


Dame in Distress

by sglottalk



Series: Division [2]
Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bechdel Test Pass, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-08-30 02:03:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 33,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8514409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sglottalk/pseuds/sglottalk
Summary: Hain tul Larro, from Xi Ceta, fled Cetaganda and joined the Dendarii Mercenaries. Now, he is assigned to a Dendarii mission in which he must first go back to Cetaganda and then run across the Nexus.Where do his loyalties lie?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [kateydidnt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kateydidnt/pseuds/kateydidnt) in the [Bujold_Ficathon_2016](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Bujold_Ficathon_2016) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> What does the Nexus and events of the Vorkosigan Saga look like from the vantage point of the average Cetagandan--non-Ghem, non-Haut, non-Ba, subject?
> 
> The lower Cetagandan classes exist, but to date we have never met them. Introduce us please.
> 
> ***
> 
> Even though it is set in the same AU, readers need not read _Gregor's Game_ to follow this story.

Sergeant Hain tul Larro felt his heart beating very fast. He was going to have a private meeting with _Admiral Naismith_. He had no idea why _Admiral Naismith_ wanted to talk to him, alone.

"Please sit," Admiral Naismith said. "Is there anything you would like to drink?"

"No, sir," Hain said.

"Not even some hot cider?" Admiral Naismith held up his mug. It was fragrant.

"I would not dare."

"Fine, I'll just pour some hot cider into this mug, and put it next to you. You can drink it if you want, and you can ignore it if you want."

Hain hesitated before he finally picked up the mug and took a sip.

"I've looked at your file, Sergeant Larro -"

"Tul Larro."

"Ah yes, Sergeant tul Larro, forgive me, I do not have much practice with using Cetagandan names correctly. By the way, what does 'tul' mean? Are you some kind of _ghem_?"

"Not at all," Hain replied. "The _ghem_ are the shield between Cetaganda and the rest of humanity."

"By that, you mean they are your military caste."

"No, the ghem are much more than that. They are also diplomats, and interplanetary traders. They are the ones who can maintain relations with the worlds outside without endangering the Imperium."

"By that, you mean that they protect Cetaganda from invasion by others?"

"Yes. Military invasion. Economic invasion. Cultural invasion. Biological invasion. The role of the ghem is the protect us from every kind of foreign invasion."

"I understand how they protect you from military invasion. What about 'cultural invasion'?"

"They study foreign cultures, and carefully screen for elements which can enrich our own cultures, while keeping out elements which would degenerate our cultures."

"Cultures? The Cetagandan empire has more than one culture?"

"Of course! If we did not have multiple cultures, the Imperium would just be a giant monoculture, and monocultures are prone to weakness."

"I see. And what culture are you from?"

"I am an Iffimio. Iffimio culture is based in the northeastern corner of Serafir, which is one of the nine continents of Xi Ceta."

"Hmmm. And what makes Iffimio different from other Cetagandan cultures?"

"We have our own language, our own literature, our own music, our own dances, our own manners."

"I get the idea," Admiral Naismith said. "Yet you have the same caste system as the rest of the Cetaganda?"

"It is how the Imperium functions," Hain said.

"And the ghem control the various different cultures."

"No," Hain said. "Officially, it is the haut who guide cultural development, but in practice, it is mostly the rek who supervise cultural development and cultural exchange within the Imperium, and the ghem who supervise cultural exchange with those outside the Imperium, though in the last hundred the ghem have also served as cultural intermediaries between the rek and the haut."

"So what you're saying is that the ghem's role is to be a condom that protects Cetaganda from foreign contact while it has intercourse with the rest of the Nexus?"

Hain's cheeks went red. "That is a very Betan metaphor."

"If you couldn't handle a Betan metaphor or two, you wouldn't work so well with Captain Bel Thorne."

Hain made no comment.

"You say that the _ghem_ are supposed to protect Cetaganda from foreign invasion, yet they also invade other planets."

"Naturally," Hain said. "When invading a foreign planet serves the interests of Cetaganda, it is their _duty_ to invade."

"And what about when, say, Barrayar invaded Komarr?"

"It was in Barrayar's interests to invade Komarr, and they obviously were able to pull it off, so of course they invaded. That is what empires _do_."

"Hmmm. What you have told me certainly explains why every other Cetagandan I've met is ghem. Yet you're not ghem, and you're here. How did that happen?"

"It's a long story, Admiral Naismith."

"I bet it is. I'm sure it's a interesting story too."

"I am, of course, _tul_."

"I know that you are _tul_. I don't know what that means."

"We _tul_ operate and maintain non-living things, such as machines. We do not work with living material, nor do we create. We do not even practice refined social behavior. Therefore, we are one of the lowest castes."

"Surely there is an even lower caste - where do Cetagandan prostitutes come from?"

"Oh, we tul would not dare work as prostitutes."

"Ah, so you are not the lowest caste."

"No, we are _below_ prostitutes. Prostitutes work intensely with human bodies, and develop highly refined social manners. It is a profession worthy of the rek and ghem. Members of some of the mid-level castes are also permitted to become prostitutes, but it is too noble for us tul."

Admiral Naismith raised his eyebrows. "Does Cetaganda have a manual labor class? Farmworkers?"

"The most respectable of the tul operate agricultural equipment."

"The _most_ respectable?"

"At least they work with living things as well as non-living things."

"What about you?"

"My parents operate mining equipment. I did well enough in school to be accepted at an information technology training program."

"Yes, I know you started with the Dendarii as an IT tech."

"I got a job at the Yovarr Examination Center."

"What does 'Yovarr' mean?"

"It is the second largest city on Xi Ceta. It is one of the few officially multicultural cities where people of any cultural background may live if they wish, even people from different continents. I lived in the Iffimio district of Yovarr, of course."

"Go on."

"One of the examinations held was the entrance examination to the Imperial Military Service Academy for Xi Ceta residents."

Admiral Naismith blinked. "You mean for _Cetaganda's_ Imperial Military Service Academy."

"Yes."

"Who is qualified to apply?"

"Ghem."

"Anyone else?"

"Not really."

"Isn't there a way to change castes - for a non-ghem to become a ghem?"

"In some circumstances it is possible to change castes. Two hundred years ago, the ghem were a fairly open caste - anyone who showed aptitude as a military officer had some hope of becoming ghem."

"And now?"

"It is practically impossible to be in a position to show aptitude as a military officer if one was not born as a _ghem_ in the first place."

"Hmmm. I see. That is unfortunate, Sergeant Hain tul Larro. Captain Bel Thorne says that you most certainly do have that aptitude."

"I dare not accept such praise."

"Anyway, there were the exams for the military academy. What next?"

"Well, when I was a little boy, I was obsessed with war dramas. And I've always had this fantasy about becoming a military officer. That is why I was curious about how I would do, if I could take the examinations. And I learned that one of the candidates had an accident and would not be able to come so I ... I hacked the system, and took his place."

"Were you caught?"

"Of course I was caught! I knew I had no hope of actually entering the academy, I just wanted to see I how compared to the _ghem_ candidates."

"And how did you do?"

"Out of over five hundred candidates ... Admiral Naismith, I dare not say it."

"Go ahead, you can say it. I don't care how low you scores were."

"No, the problem was that my score _wasn't_ low. I had the 11th highest score."

Admiral Naismith whistled. "I would ask if that qualified you to become ghem, or at least to enter the academy, but since you're sitting here, I am guessing the answer was no."

"You are correct, Admiral Naismith. I was permanently assigned to space duty."

"Well, that was some kind of reward," Admiral Naismith said.

"No, it is a punishment. Space duty is one of the lowest forms of work for a tul."

"But you get to go into _space_."

"Space is lifeless and lonely. Even my parents, as miners, live on a living planet, in a living community with a rich culture. They do not have to live on spaceships or space stations, surrounded mostly by lifeless machinery, with the lifeless vacuum always near, and thriving eco-systems always far."

"Aw come on, we Dendarii practically live in space, and some of us wouldn't have it any other way."

"It took me a long time to understand why people would _want_ to live in space. It is something which does not make much sense to Cetagandans."

"Well, at least as a space worker, you got to see places outside of Xi Ceta."

"Not really. Only the ghem are permitted to engage in foreign contact. Outside of the Imperium, tul workers must stay aboard the ship at all times except during emergencies. Even within the Imperium, we need a permit from the local rek-lords to visit a planet other than our native one. When I took that exam - that is when I learned, on some level, that the ghem..."

"Don't deserve their high status?" Admiral Naimisth suggested.

"That it one way to put it. Yet I was always under their command, stuck inside a spaceship, without even much contact with my native community to console me. I was the only Iffimio on the ship. The on-board psychologist said that she was not qualified to treat me, and recommended that I be sent to Xi Ceta planetside for therapy, but because being in space was my punishment, the ghem commanders would not let me return."

"So, how did you get out of that?" Admiral Naismith asked.

"I was working on a merchant vessel. Our regular route was a loop, Xi Ceta - Marilac - Zoave Twilight - Vega Station - Sigma Ceta - Eta Ceta - Xi Ceta. I had lost hope of ever going back to Xi Ceta planetside, and I could not stand it any more. Going to any planet seemed better than being in space forever. I knew my odds of escape were best at Marilac. So I - just did it."

"And that is where Captain Bel Thorne recruited you," Admiral Naismith said. "I know the rest of the story from there. Though I am still wondering why they put a proven hacker on a ship which travelled outside of the Cetagandan Empire. Wouldn't it have been better to at least put you on a ship which had a strictly domestic route?"

"The ships on domestic routes have much laxer security. Quite frankly, it would have been easier to escape from a ship which always stayed inside the Imperium." 

"Hmmm."

"I don't know why you are so interested in me," Hain said.

"We have been offered a certain contract," Admiral Naismith said. "I am not sure whether the Dendarii Mercenaries will accept it or not. If we do accept, your skills and knowledge will be essential to the success of the mission."

"What kind of contract?"

"An extraction job."

"Extraction? Of a person?"

"Indeed."

"Are they ... willing?"

"The client's representatives claim that they _are_ willing, but the contract has a clause which says that, if they resist extraction, we are to extract them anyway, and we will be financially compensated for our additional troubles. In other words, this might turn into a kidnapping job."

"Since you have been asking me about Cetaganda, I am guessing that the person to be extracted is Cetagandan."

"Bingo!" Admiral Naismith said. "A Cetagandan who resides in the Cetagandan Empire to be specific."

"Surely you are not suggesting that we kidnap someone from within the Cetagandan Empire itself!"

"I am suggesting that," Admiral Naismith said.

Hain's jaw dropped.

"Awww come on, we just _openly_ fought against the Nuovo Brasilians. There is no way that _secretly_ pulling _one_ person out of Cetaganda is more dangerous than that."

"The ghem-lords will not let you get away with this."

"What if I said that our client is _ghem_?"

"I would think this is one of their internal disputes, and urge you not to do this. Even if one ghem faction is hiring us, all of the other factions will oppose us simply because we are foreigners interfering with their business.

"What if I said that our client is _haut_?" Admiral Naismith asked.

"If ... no, that is not possible. The haut would never deal directly with foreign mercenaries."

"Let's say that, hypothetically, our client is a haut who wants to teach the ghem a lesson."

"That would be even worse," Hain said solemnly, but his tone of voice had changed. "However, Admiral Naismith, if you command me to extract a ghem on the behalf of a haut client, I will obey."

"And let's say - hypothetically - that our client is a ghem who wants to extract a haut?" Miles asked.

"Absolutely not!" Hain replied. "I would resign before I do that."

"Interesting," Miles said. "I already figured that dealing with the haut would be riskier than dealing with just the ghem, but I'm wondering why you seem so much more willing to serve the haut than the ghem. Aside from the fact that, as far as I know, the haut have never screwed you over."

"The ghem outrank us tul, but in the end, both the ghem and the tul are tools. The _haut_ are our purpose."

"Your purpose?"

"The purpose of Cetaganda is to improve humanity itself. Some of us serve this purpose in very humble and indirect ways, but it is our purpose nonetheless. The haut are the fruits of our labors. They are ours."

"Here I was thinking that the _haut_ believe that they own the lower castes," Admiral Naismith said. "I never imagined that the lower castes believe that they own the _haut_."

"We don't _own_ them. They are - it is because we can help them and the improvement of humanity that our lives _matter_."

"I've always wondered why the militaristic ghem-lords did not just overthrow the haut..."

"If the ghem dared to turn against the _haut_ , the lower castes would revolt."

"Yes, that does help explain things."

"Admiral Naismith, who is involved in this potential contract?"

"I cannot tell you who we are to extract unless we actually accept the contract. If we decline the contract, you'll never know, and if we do accept the contract, you will find out soon enough."

"And the client?"

"Hah, even _I_ don't know who the client is. Whoever they are, they have a good set of proxies to cover their identity. For all I know, our client is Emperor Fletchir Giaja himself."

"If the emperor wants to extract someone from within his own empire, he would not need to hire foreign mercenaries to do it."

"Maybe he does have reasons to hire foreign mercenaries. Or maybe our client is Emperor Gregor Vorbarra of Barrayar, or some Jacksonian Baron, or even Steady Freddy. Just because we're supposed to extract someone from the Cetagandan Empire doesn't mean our client is Cetagandan, you know. Actually, it might really be Steady Freddy - I think this mission would be right up his alley. I do know that, whoever they are, they have a lot of money."

"Admiral Naismith - I cannot stress strongly enough how dangerous this contract could be."

"I never got far in life by playing it safe," Admiral Naismith replied. "Thank you for having this chat with me. It was very educational. And I hope you liked the cider."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, it will become obvious why this is an AU fic. If this were the canon timeline, this story would be set between _The Vor Game_ and _Cetaganda_.

"You wanted to talk to me about the security codes our client provided," Admiral Naismith said.

"Are they _real_?" Hain asked.

"The client says they are - do you have reason to think they are fake?"

"Based on what I have seen of them, them seem real, but..."

"But?"

"It's not just codes - it's also protocols, and schedules for guards, and hidden back-doors in Cetagandan security software, and all kind of other information about how to essentially break in. _Insider_ information. That someone was able to get this information, and hand it over to foreigners ... that is very bad."

"For the Dendarii?"

"No. For Cetaganda."

"Then I fail to see how it is our problem. Frankly, it sounds like a blessing to me."

"But _who can do this_?"

"What if our client were Barrayar's Imperial Security?" Admiral Naismith inquired.

"Are they our client?" Hain asked.

"I _still_ do not know who our mysterious client is. So, maybe."

"If Barrayar is behind this - they have penetrated Cetagandan security far deeper than I ever would have imagined. With this kind of information, they could disrupt the Cetagandan government in many ways. Perhaps even assassinate a haut-governor."

"That bad, huh?"

"If _anyone_ remotely hostile ever got this kind of information about the Dendarii, then we would be dead."

"Yet you question the authenticity?"

"If this intelligence is real, and in the hands of an enemy of Cetaganda, they why are they just trying to extract one person? Why haven't they done far more damage?"

"Maybe there are additional security measures which we are not aware of which our client cannot get past. Or maybe our client is _not_ hostile towards Cetaganda. Still, if this intelligence is false, we need to know that. Can you think of any reason someone would intentionally give us false information of this kind?"

"If they wanted to set a trap."

"For whom? Only a few peop;e are going into this mission, and as far as I know, nobody wants to ruin any of you so badly that they would devise an elaborate scheme like this. I don't see how this could do much hurt the Dendarii who are not directly involved in this mission."

"What if the client is feeding us false intelligence so we will fail, and the ghem-lords will become angry with us?"

"Hmmm. I cannot rule out that possibility, but if that's our client's goal, I'd think there are simpler way to do it. Not to mention that Cetaganda already has reasons to resent us. Nonetheless, if you do think there is serious cause for concern, I will not risk your lives for no good reason. The contract _can_ be canceled."

"I agree with you, Admiral Naismith. This does not make much sense as a trap."

"Is there a way to know whether this intelligence is for real before, you know, you all are committed?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"Can you complete the mission _without_ this intelligence?"

"Practically, no."

"Well, then it looks like we stick with the plan for now."

From the perspective of the Dendarii Mercenaries, it made sense to proceed with the contract.

However, unless the intelligence was false, Cetaganda was far more vulnerable that Hain had ever imagined. In some sense, he still felt that Xi Ceta was his home, and all of his family was still there. The thought that they might not be as well protected as he had always believed was chilling.

"Since you are here, I might as well tell you..." Admiral Naismith paused. "I do not know what our client intends to do with the lady we are extracting, so, ah, can you deal with that?"

"What do you mean?" Hain asked.

"I hope that we are helping her. I know _I_ would rather rescue a dame _from_ distress than throw a dame _into_ distress. However, the cold hard truth is, even if I knew for a fact that our client intends to hurt her, I would accept this contract anyway. Bills have to be paid, and if I did not take this contract, I'd have to take contracts which are more morally dubious." Admiral Naismith shook his head. "Y'know, it would be really nice if we were secretly owned by a government, and I could cherry-pick our contracts knowing that, if we could not pay off the all bills ourselves, the taxpayers would bail us out. But it is not so. And those taxes would probably be gathered from hard-working proles who don't even have basic medical care anyway."

"Proles who don't even have basic medical care?" Hain asked.

"Well, surely there are lots of people in Cetaganda who do not have access to adequate health care."

"I am not sure about the occupied planets, but every resident of the  
fully integrated satrapies is guaranteed adequate shelter, clothing, food, medical care, and exposure to the arts. It's like Beta Colony." 

"Eh, we Betans are more enthusiastic about education and not so enthusiastic about art." 

"Close enough. One of the greatest shocks for me, upon seeing the worlds beyond Cetaganda, was learning how many people in the Nexus do not get adequate food, shelter, and exposure to the arts," Hain said. "I still do not understand why so many governments fail to take care of their subjects."

Admiral Naismith coughed. "I was just referring to the common people who pay the bulk of the taxes, people like the _tul_."

"But the _tul_ do not pay taxes. At least not in Serafir - I did have to pay a little tax when I was living in Yovarr," Hain said.

"You don't pay taxes?"

"Our wages are so low, and most _tul_ do not have much property, that there would not be much to tax. However, one could say that the fact that we are paid so little is an indirect tax. Wages are higher in Yovarr."

"If you all are guaranteed your basic needs anyway, why do the _tul_ bother to work for low pay?"

"There are considerable social benefits to being a hard worker."

Admiral Naismith coughed again. "Anyway, the point I was trying to get at is that, even if we ultimately are hurting this lady, it's still better than the alternative. Such as being funded by taxes burdening poor people who don't even have adequate medical care. Well, maybe our client got their funds by sucking lots of money from poor people, but that is not our concern. Just, umm, remember on your mission that it's also possible that we're helping this lady."

***

Lieutenant Timoq ghem Longhei and Sergeant Sassoom ghem Marfel's arms were locked with Captain Bel Thorne's, and they were fervently kissing it on the cheeks. Of course, they were all traveling incognito - Bel Thorne was disguised as a woman because hermaphrodites tended to be too memorable. But Hain did not understand why Timoq and Sassoom pretending to be the boyfriends of a Betan 'woman', nor did he really want to understand.

In any case, Captain Bel Thorne was going to stay on Vega Station disguised as a woman while the rest went to Sigma Ceta. Even though Bel was in charge, it could not pilot a ship through a wormhole, nor was it deeply familiar with Cetaganda, therefore it could not help much during the first part of the mission.

Timoq and Sassoom really were born as ghem, and had later made their way to the Dendarii. But for this mission, they had taken on false ghem identities so that they could not be tied back to the Dendarii Mercenaries easily. Hain was dressed and wearing the makeup of a ghem as well. 

Their client had supplied them with three ready-made false identities which nonetheless would seem authentic to Cetagandan authorities, complete with verifications. The client had even supplied them with hacks which would get around biometric software. Hain wished he knew how the client was able to pull this off.

It was strange, walking around as a ghem. Timoq had spent the past couple of weeks drilling Hain in how to move and behave so that he would seem ghem to the casual Cetagandan observer.

"I'm going to miss you, sweetheart, but we'll see each other again when we get back from Sigma Ceta," Timoq said. Timoq and Sassoom broke from Bel, and they headed with Hain to the ship.

Though their vessel, the _Passionflower_ , could handle up to thirty people, just four were going into Sigma Ceta - and hopefully, on the return trip, five. Aside from Hain, Timoq, and Sassoom, there was also the pilot, Adjua Peprah, the only Dendarii going into Sigma Ceta who was not native to the Cetaganda.

After they settled in, heading towards the wormhole, Timoq said "Ah, Hain ghem Larro, are you excited about this mission."

"Hain _tul_ Larro," Hain corrected him

"You are _ghem_ as far as I'm concerned," Timoq said. "Any Cetagandan who can survive living outside the Imperium for over a year without any support from imperial society and _not_ turn into a drug addict might as well be _ghem_."

Hain knew what Timoq was talking about. It was rare for any non-ghem Cetagandan to emigrate, and most of those who did not find their way to a Cetagandan embassy for repatriation became addicted to some recreational drug. Hain understood the temptation. The society he had known was utterly gone, and in its place was chaotic sets of people who still continued to shock him.

"It's thanks to the Dendarii," Hain said. "If the Dendarii had not recruited me and restored some sense of order to my life, I don't think I would have been able to cope."

"Well neither would most so-called 'ghem'," Timoq replied. "They should have at least let you enter the academy, even if they didn't grant you ghem status right away. But it's just as well that you did not get in. I did attend the academy, unfortunately. Too much theory. Working with the Dendarii is much better training."

"Do you ever plan to go back?" Hain asked.

"We're going back on this mission, aren't we?"

"I mean leave the Dendarii, and return to Cetaganda as yourself."

"I don't know," Timoq replied. "Sometimes I feel like I ought to go back to restore the glory of the ghem. Sometimes I feel like it's a hopeless cause, and that I'm better off doing something else."

***

Even with all of the preparation, Hain still could hardly believe it when they managed to reach Sigma Ceta orbit. Cetagandan customs had accepted their identities, they permitted their non-Cetagandan pilot to enter, and they had even gotten a permit to land their mini-shuttle within the city limits of Harilpyr, the capital of Sigma Ceta . It was where the lady they were going to 'extract' lived.

The mini-shuttle was why they were using a over-sized ship for this mission. It meant that they did not need to use a public or chartered shuttle, nor did they have to go through the shuttleport which was outside city limits. It could hold up to five people, which, considering that it only needed to hold four people, was sufficient.

As the pilot, Adjua was going to stay on the _Passionflower_ in orbit, while Timoq, Sassoom, and Hain landed to 'extract' the lady.

The lady in question was one of Ghem-General Chilian's many wives, which meant literally breaking into his residence. Their mysterious client, of course, had supplied them with all of the critical information they needed for this endeavor.

Even though Hain currently had the appearance of a ghem, only Timoq and Sassoom, being _real_ ghem, had the mannerisms which would allow them to pass among other real ghem. They also had much more relevant experience with hostages (both liberations and captures) than Hain. Hain's area of expertise, of course, was dealing with security systems. Thus, Timoq and Sassoom were the only ones who were going to enter the residence, while Hain would serve as backup support.

Hain was going to be near the residence, of course. He had prepped the short-range communicators himself - using longer-range communicators increased the risk that their signals would be intercepted. There was a limit to how much data would come over the communicators - again, to reduce the risk of detection - but it ought to be enough for Hain and Timoq to exchange urgent information.

Though the client claimed that the lady sincerely wanted to leave Sigma Ceta, they had also requested that it _seem_ that her departure was unwilling to the Cetagandan authorities. That meant, in practice, that this operation was exactly like a kidnapping. It also meant that, even if the lady had changed her mind, she would get extracted anyway. Timoq and Sassoom would render the lady unconscious as soon as they made contact with her, and then carry her out.

As Hain was outside the residence, monitoring the situation, he could not help but think that, not too far away, there was an _Iffimio_ hall, filled with people from his own culture. Since this was not Xi Ceta, there were not many Iffimio on this planet, but the majority of Iffimio on Sigma Ceta did live in this city. It had been years since he had had any contact with someone from his own culture, and for them to be so near - of course, he was here to do a job. There was no way he could visit the Iffimio hall without jeopardizing the mission.

Hain monitored both his connection to Timoq and his secret connection to residence security like a hawk. Everything was going according to plan.

Once Timoq, Sassoom, and the lady had exited the perimeter of the residence, Hain started moving back towards the mini-shuttle. He needed to stay within range of Timoq's short-range communicator, but he was also going to stay out of line-of sight until the other three were ready to board the shuttle. That would allow him to get to the mini-shuttle first, checking whether there was any trouble there, and getting it ready so that they could launch as soon as possible.

Everything continued go to according to plan.

When Timoq and Sassoom brought the lady aboard the shuttle, and Hain got her first glimpse of her, he was awestruck. She had the most gorgeous dark chocolate hair and vanilla cream skin.

The mini-shuttle took off, and they rejoined with the _Passionflower_ in orbit. Pilot Adjua was also gobsmacked when she first saw the lady, but it did not stop her from getting them away from Sigma Ceta.

Everything had gone right so far. That should have pleased Hain. Yet it did not.

***

After the final wormhole jump, they were on their way back to Vega Station to rendezvous with Bel Thorne.

The final - and tricky - hurdle had been going through the bioscanners of Cetagandan customs without revealing that there were five, not four, people on board. 

Their client had, as usual, given them helpful information. In this case, the client had told them that the lady had the "Juliet" gene complex in her DNA, and had also supplied them with the formula for the "Friar's Sleep" drug, even those the existence of both this gene complex and drug were haut secrets.

"Friar's Sleep" would outright kill most people, but for someone who possessed the "Juliet" gene complex, they would seem entirely dead by any measure for two hours, and go back to being entirely alive. And it turned out to be effective for fooling even Cetagandan bioscanners.

It did not surprise Hain at all that the haut had incorporated literary allusions into their genome. What shocked him was that haut secrets had been leaked. Who _was_ their client?

Hain was greatly relieved when the "Friar's Sleep" wore off and her vital signs returned to normal. They were still keeping her unconscious until Bel Thorne took charge of the situation.

Hain was still spellbound by her appearance. "Her mother must be haut," he said.

"Of course her mother's haut, she is haut herself," Sassoom said.

Hain blinked. "What? She's Ghem-general Chilian's wife."

As soon as he said it, he realized how foolish he was. He knew that ghem-generals generally did have haut-wives. However, he had not wanted to consider the possibility that he had just kidnapped a haut woman, so he had just assumed that she was ghem.

He had cross-checked so many details for this mission, yet he had never tried to do any independent research about Vio d'Chilian, the lady who was lying unconscious in their vessel.

"Yes," Sassoom said. "She is his haut-wife."


	3. Chapter 3

Vio d'Chilian was kept in a separate chamber, alone. The crew monitored her remotely. Shortly before they docked at Vega Station, she revived. She took a look around, and as soon as she saw the _minsa_ from Orient IV which had been left at her side, she put it on. The _minsa_ was a conical hat, with a veil draped upon it. It permitted the wearer to see out, but nearly completely concealed the wearer's appearance and figure within a veiled cylinder of fabric. Hain assumed that the _minsa_ was supposed to be a substitute for a haut bubble.

Hain was still gobsmacked that he had participated in the extraction of a _haut lady_. Would he have done it if he had known? Had the Dendarii deliberately concealed this information to secure his cooperation.

No. Admiral Naismith's comments about them being unsure what the client's true intentions were now made more sense. Admiral Naismith had assumed that he had already known that they were going to extract a haut. And if he had not been so absorbed in understanding all of the security protocols, Hain probably would have taken the commonsense step of learning a bit about 'Vio d'Chilian'.

And there was definitely some Cetagandan insider who was assisting them. All of the security information their client had shared with them most likely came from a high-ranking ghem source, but "Friar's Sleep"? That was almost certainly a haut secret, which implied that their client also had access to a haut source. Hain had to conclude that there was a reasonable chance that they were working on the behalf of haut faction, which meant that this mission might not be going against the interests of the haut, and by extension the Cetagandan Imperium.

It was also still possible that they were doing harm to Vio d'Chilian.

Part of Hain wished that he could speak to Vio d'Chilian, to ask whether she really had chosen to path, or whether there was anything he could do to assist her. However, he knew that his station was so low that it would never be proper for him to speak to a haut lady. Furthermore, Vio d'Chilian could communicate with them if she wished - there was a com in her chamber - yet she had refused to do so.

At Vega Station, they picked up Bel Thorne. Lieutenant Timoq presented it with a report of everything which had happened in the mission so far.

"Excellent work," Bel Thorne said.

"Now that we have the lady, can you finally tell us where we are supposed to take her?" Adjua asked. 

"Isn't it obvious?" Bel Thorne asked, with a grin in the crook of its mouth.

"No," said Sassoom.

"When a client who cares a great deal about concealing their identity wants to extract someone and have them ferried across the Nexus," Bel Thorne said "there is a four in five chance that they want the extracted person to be sent through Jackson's Whole."

***

The _Passionflower_ was docking at Cordonah Station. They would hand over Vio d'Chilian, and then the Dendarii would be done with this mission.

Hain did not know how he felt about finally parting ways with Vio d'Chilian and wiping their hands of the matter.

"Is House Cordonah our client?" Hain asked.

"There is a slim chance that they are," Bel Thorne replied. "Most likely, they are just another proxy. They are known for hostage deals, which means they are set up to do pretty much any business which involves moving live people."

"Why didn't House Cordonah do the extraction themselves?" Hain asked.

"I don't know," Bel Thorne replied. "Maybe they are not crazy enough to pull a haut lady from a ghem general's own home."

Timoq and Sassoom were escorting Vio d'Chilian, who continued to wear the _minsa_. Bel Thorne was ready for the handover as the hatch opened.

"Welcome to House Cordonah," said a beautiful woman with yellow and shiny gold skin who was flanked by guards. "I am Topaz, one of the Baronne's Jewels. It is a great honor to meet you, haut Vio d'Chilian."

Vio d'Chilian made no apparent response.

"Our dear matriarch wishes to greet you herself," Topaz continued. She then looked at Bel Thorne. "She also invites you and those of your crew who landed on Sigma Ceta to come drink tea with her."

Bel Thorne eyed Timoq, Sassoom, and Hain. Clearly, it had not expected this.

"We are honored by this invitation," Bel Thorne said, clearly not as used to speaking in polite language as Topaz. "Of course we accept." Bel turned its head and called back into the vessel "Pilot Adjua, stay here and watch the ship."

"Aye, captain," Adjua said. Hain figured that she would prefer to stay on the ship anyway.

Topaz and her guards led the five of them to a chamber inside the chamber. As they stepped inside, Hain marveled as the fantastic decor. Clearly someone with very refined taste had designed this space.

There were two tables. One table, on the side, had four seats. They looked comfortable, yet ordinary. The table in the center, however, had two chairs with very elaborate cushions. And on one of those chairs a dazzlingly lovely elderly lady was seated.

The elderly lady rose. "Greetings, haut Vio d'Chilian. I am haut Moira ghem Estif. Hosting you is my sweet pleasure." Moira bowed.

Vio d'Chilian said nothing.

"Would you like some refreshments?" Moira asked as she gestured at the snacks on the table.

Vio d'Chilian sat down at the central table without saying another word.

Moira gestured for Bel, Timoq, Sassoom, and Hain to sit at the side table.

"Thank you, Topaz," Moira said. "You are excused."

Topaz left the chamber, but the guards remained. Moira sat down on her own seat again.

"Topaz is my daughter's work," Moira said as she poured some tea. "What do you think of her?"

Vio d'Chilian made no comment.

"I understand that this is a very difficult time for you," Moira said. "I have had my share of difficult times. However, if you are going to thrive outside of the Imperium, you are going to have to become comfortable with talking again."

Vio d'Chilian turned her head. Her face was still completely covered by the _minsa_ , but it was clear that she was looking towards the side table.

"You don't want to speak while they're here?" Moira asked. "I am sure they are very crude people, but you are going to have to learn to let go of the customs of the haut. And that means you need to learn how to interact with crude people. Besides, they are going to be leaving soon. This will be your last chance to talk to them."

Vio d'Chilian remained silent.

"I strongly advise you to talk to them," Moira said. "You have been with them for a while on their ship. I had hoped that you would find it a little easier to speak with them than with others."

Vio d'Chilian did not respond.

"At least speak in their presence, even if you don't want to speak directly to them," Moira said.

"Who are you to command me?" Vio d'Chilian asked in a very small voice. Hain could barely hear her, yet it was the first he had ever heard of her voice.

"My daughter runs this station," Moira said. "Your stay here will be brief, but while you are here, I am in charge. We are no longer in Cetaganda. The sooner you get used to that, the better off you will be. I arranged this exercise for your benefit, not mine."

"Yet you humiliate me," Vio d'Chilian said.

"No. I am helping you free yourself," Moira said. "The way we haut women were trained to only interact with haut men, ba, and the highest ranking of ghem leaves us helpless when we must take care of ourselves. I also went through a phase when I wanted to recreate my little haut bubble, not let anyone see me, and not speak to anyone other than my ghem husband." Moira sighed. "Hiding inside your _minsa_ is fine. But you need to take steps towards becoming more independent. And that means learning to deal with people who don't know the protocols of haut."

Hain would not call it a _glower_ , but it seemed as if Moira was glowering when she said "You chose to leave Cetaganda, after all."

"I had no choice," Vio d'Chilian said.

"You did."

"If I had stayed on Sigma Ceta, then-"

"See, you _did_ have a choice. And I think you made the right one. Now take advantage of your choice." Moira sipped her drink. "I had some luck, of course. Being forced to marry a ghem was bad luck, but having an exceptional ghem husband was good luck. With a different husband, I might have chosen to go back to Eta Ceta rather than go to Komarr - which would have been a foolish choice, but I was enough of a fool back then to take such a path."

It occurred to Hain that Moira might have supplied the secret of 'Friar's Sleep'. If so, that meant their client might not have any other ties to the haut.

Moira turned away from Vio d'Chilian and faced the side table. "You two look like ghem," she said.

"Timoq ghem Longhei, it is a great honor."

"Sassoom ghem Marfel, it is a great honor."

"What are you doing running around with space mercenaries?" Moira asked.

"The mercenaries are interesting," Sassoom said.

"I've lost patience with my fellow ghem," Timoq said.

Moira raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"

"They are too obsessed with trying to win haut wives to pay attention to things that matter," Timoq said.

"If you are trying to rile me up, you're going to be disappointed," Moira said calmly.

"I don't care what you think." Timoq said.

Hain was shocked that Timoq would speak to a haut lady like that. Even Bel seemed to be a bit uncomfortable. Hain knew Bel, like most Betans, favored direct speech, but Bel was probably worried about managing a smooth handover of Vio d'Chilian.

"Good for you," Moira said. She turned back towards Vio d'Chilian. "You could learn something from him."

"If I were ever 'rewarded' with a haut wife, I'd refuse her."

"Ghem are not allowed to refuse haut wives."

"I'd refuse her anyway. Unlike many so-called ghem in this degenerate age, I have a spine."

"Why wouldn't you want the honor of blending your genes with the genes of the haut?"

"Don't kid me," Timoq said. "Anyone with a brain can figure out that, if genetic blending was what the haut wanted, they would simply contract their genomes out to ghem families, or if they wanted stricter control, to demand genetic samples from ghem families. Everyone knows that the real reason ghem are rewarded with haut wives is sex. That's why it's legal for ghem to rape their haut wives. Otherwise, most haut ladies would refuse to have sex with their ghem husbands, and they would be saddled with the expense and hassle of without any benefit."

"What!" Bel Thorne exclaimed. It stood up. "Rape is legal in Cetaganda? That's barbaric!"

"My husband never raped me," Moira replied. "However, as I said before, he was an exceptional ghem husband."

"That's not exceptional, that just means your husband wasn't a sick excuse of a human being," Bel retorted.

"Oh, he was exceptional. Cetaganda is not Beta Colony." Moira turned back to Vio d'Chilian. "Did you even know that it is Betan? I figured that out as soon as it started talking. Learning to recognize the most common galactic accents is a very useful skill that I urge you to acquire."

Hain was shocked. Rape was illegal in Cetaganda ... at least, it was illegal for the tul caste. He was dimly aware that it legal for ghem to use sexual torture upon enemies of the empire. But haut women were not enemies of the empire! He could hardly believe what he was hearing.

There was a beep, and Moira looked at her wristcom. She pinched her lips, then gave Bel Thorne a withering glare. "You did not do a good enough job," Moira said. "The Cetagandans have traced you, and they are going to try to take back my dear guest. Our client is not going to be happy."

Bel's jaw dropped. It was still outraged, but it also recognized the importance of this business. "I am truly sorry," Bel said.

"You are going to have to remedy this," Moira said. "Your ship is the one I can send out of here the fastest, and speed is of the essence. And if we have to pay a penalty to our client because you fail deliver our guest, then we will extract that penalty from the Dendarii Mercenaries."

"You're not giving us a choice," Bel said.

"No, I'm not. House Cordonah will honor its Deal with our mutual client, and while I would rather use someone more competent, we must work with what is available. If you succeed, I will instruct our client to divert part of our payment to the Dendarii Mercenaries."

Bel figured out that trying to argue with House Cordonah while on Cordonah Station with the Cetagandans in pursuit was a bad idea.

"They will not expect you to still have our guest after you leave the station, and we will delay them as long as we can," Moira said. "The files you need are being sent to your pilot right now."

"Where are we going to take our guest?" Bel asked.

"Orient IV," Moira said. She turned to Vio once again. "I am sorry that our time together was so short. I do hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to get used to dealing with non-haut and non-ghem people. The better skilled you become in that, the more power you will have over your destiny."

Vio d'Chilian made no response.


	4. Chapter 4

Hain was amazed at the speed which the House Cordonah people had restocked their ship. They had even completely refueled the mini-shuttle inside the ship. With all of the supplies they now had, they would not need to dock at a station again for over a month, which would definitely help them travel faster. Hopefully, they could get to Orient IV within that time.

The Cetagandans, unsurprisingly, were coming from the wormhole controlled by House Prestene.

"Hmmm, we could use the House Cordonah wormhole to get to Morita Station, Earth, and then Orient IV," Bel said.

"We advise taking the route to Escobar instead," a House Cordonah representative said. "House Bharaputra has agreed to let you go to the front of the wormhole queue, and the Escobar route can get you to Orient IV faster."

"Not to mention that, as a 'civilian' craft, we'll be able to get transit permission from the Escobaran authorities quickly, whereas it will take longer for Cetagandan military craft," Bel said. "Morita Station, by contrast, is unlikely to slow down our pursuers. Escobar it is."

Shortly afterwards, the hatch to the _Passionflower_ was closed, and they were on their way to the first wormhole on the route to Escobar.

***

The _Passionflower_ was midway between Jackson's Whole and Escboar. They had spent five days in transit, and they had five days left to Escobar.

"How do you think House Cordonah is delaying the Cetagandans?" Hain asked.

Bel said. "If I were House Cordonah, _I_ would offer to sell the Cetagandans information about our itinerary."

"But they said that they would delay the Cetagandans! And they _want_ us to reach Orient IV with ... with our guest."

"Oh, I'm sure they will do all they can to confuse the Cetagandans first," Bel said. "But the Cetagandans will probably figure out that House Cordonah is involved and no longer has our lovely lady. Then House Cordonah will have to pretend to work with the Cetagandans for self-preservation. Besides, Jacksonians can waste lots of time by dragging out negotiations when they want to."

"I suppose they could sell false, or at least useless, information," Hain said.

"I hope that is what they do," Bel replied.

***

"It's so annoying that we have to wait in this long queue before we can jump," Timoq complained.

"Well, the wormhole connecting Escobar and Tau Ceti is the only example of a direct jump between two highly populated planets in the whole Nexus," Bel Thorne said. "That, combined with the fact that both Escobar and Tau Ceti have a lot of wormhole connections with other populated planets means that this wormhole is really popular. Even with the traffic jams, travel between Escobar and Tau Ceti is much faster than travel between any two other planets with lots of humans."

Wormhole pilots waiting in queues tended to chat with other wormhole pilots in the vicinity. In particular, when a ship exited a wormhole, the pilot of the exiting ship with chat with waiting ships along the way as it passed them by one by one. Adjua was conversing with the pilot of the ship which had most recently left the wormhole.

"Where'd you start?" Adjua asked.

"Earth," the other pilot replied.

"Hey, I'm from Earth! I mean, I was born there," Adjua replied.

"Which country?"

"Songhai Republic."

"Oh, you're from the Sahara."

"No I am not. The Songhai Republic extends from the Niger Delta in the south all of the way to the Alps. Just because we became the wealthiest country on Earth by terraforming the Sahara desert doesn't mean that the Sahara is the _only_ part of our republic. I'm from Kumasi, which is south of the Sahara and has never been a desert, thank you very much."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

"Naw, it's cool. Where were you born?"

"Frost IV. And yes, I really am from Frost IV, it's not a fake identity."

"Sorry about what happened to your planet."

"You know, there is a lot more to Frost IV than that earthquake, just as there is more to your republic than the Sahara."

"Fair point. Anything interesting going on in Tau Ceti space?"

"There is always something interesting happening in Tau Ceti space. The weirdest thing this time around were these Cetagandan military ships which were hanging around. Tau Ceti's no friend of the Cetagandan Empire, and they generally only let in Cetagandan military ships if they are escorting trade ships. However, these Cetagandan ships didn't seem to be escorting anybody."

Pilot Adjua looked at Bel Thorne. "Any idea why the Cetagandan ships were around?"

"Not a clue. Well, they are hanging around a point where they could intercept any ship traveling from one wormhole to another, so my best guess is that they are waiting for somebody."

"Thanks for the heads up," Adjua replied.

Shortly afterwards, the pilot from Frost IV broke off the chat with the next ship waiting in the queue.

"Do we want to wait for the next ship exiting the wormhole to confirm that there are Cetagandan ships hanging around Tau Ceti?" Adjua asked.

"How about you first ask the other wormhole pilots in the queue if they have heard about Cetagandan ships," Bel advised.

Adjua did that. She learned that other exiting ships, not just the one with the pilot from Frost IV, had noticed Cetagandan military craft in Tau Ceti space.

"I suppose that it is possible that it is a total coincidence that there are Cetagandan ships along the way to Orient IV," Bel said. "It is even possible that they have no clue about us having Vio d'Chilian, and thus they would not bother us. But I would not bet my life on those possibilities. Especially since, once we jump into Tau Ceti, we'll have to wait in another queue to jump out. Once in Tau Ceti space, we will not be able to escape any Cetagandan ships which are there."

"The Cetagandan ships which were pursuing us on Jackson's Whole could not possibly reached Tau Ceti ahead of us," Sassoom said.

"But they could have sent tight beam messages, and dispatched ships to Tau Ceti," Timoq said.

"That is assuming that they know we are going to Orient IV, or at least in that direction," Hain said.

"There are many ways they could know that," Bel said. "Though unlikely, it is possible that House Cordonah told them. Or that the Cetagandans have spies in House Cordonah who told them. Or maybe the Cetagandans are spying on our mysterious client and figured out that they would want to send Vio d'Chilian to Orient IV that way. Given our client's inclination to interfere with the Cetagandan elite, I bet that the Cetagandan intelligence service monitors them." Bel sighed. "It would be nice if our 'guest' gave us some clues about what is going on."

They let Vio d'Chilian listen in on most conversations on the ship, and the com panel in her chamber would let her join if she wished. However, since they had left Jackson's Whole, she had not spoken a single word.

"We have to assume that we are being pursued from both the Jackson's Whole and Tau Ceti directions," Bel said. "The Escobarans will hold them off for a time, but not indefinitely. We can't stick around."

Bel paced. "We could go to Sergyar. There is no way our pursuers would follow us _there_. Then we go to Komarr and continue towards Orient IV."

"The problem with that plan is that the Barrayarans may not let _us_ go through Sergyar," Timoq said. "Two-thirds of the people on this ship are Cetagandan."

"The two of us were assigned to this mission primarily to take Lady d'Chilian from Sigma Ceta," Sassoom said. "We could stay behind here at Escobar. Lady d'Chilian could take the sleeping potion again, and Sergeant tul Larro might be able to pass as a non-Cetagandan."

"No, Timoq's right," Bel said. "We'd run a high risk of our 'guest' falling into Barrayaran hands, and that might be just as bad as letting our pursuers take her. In that case, we have to go to Beta Colony."

"That won't take us any closer to Orient IV," Sassoom pointed out.

"Reaching Orient IV is a secondary priority," Bel said. "Our first priority is not getting captured. Since I am a Betan citizen, the Betan authorities will have a strong interest in protecting us. Also, we might be able to switch ships and slip past our pursuers. At the very least, I am willing to bet that there are no Cetagandans at Beta Colony who will be ready to pounce on us."

***

As they were en route to Beta Colony, Hain was thinking about how they could get to Orient IV. Unfortunately, there was not any wormhole route from Beta Colony to Orient IV which did not involve turning around and going back to Escobar. It seemed they really have to change ships in order to throw off pursuit.

That led to Hain contemplating about how people thought about how close planets were based on wormhole routes, rather than actual distance in three-dimensional space. For example, people tended to think of all of the Cetagandan planets as being clustered together and near each other even though they were not always close to each other. For example, the nearest inhabited planet to Xi Ceta in three-dimensional space was Komarr, yet the shortest wormhole route connecting Xi Ceta and Komarr went through Eta Ceta and Rho Ceta.

Well, there was Cetagandan planet which was not part of the Cetagandan cluster shown on wormhole route maps. Lamda Ceta which, due to the collapse of one of the wormholes connecting it to Eta Ceta, was now only connected to Sigma Ceta and Orient IV. It sure would have been convenient if they could have gone straight from Sigma Ceta through Lambda Ceta to Orient IV, but staying in Cetagandan space longer than necessary would have been too risky.

It was true that more often than not, wormhole routes had some correlation to distance in three-dimensional space. For example, Orient IV was quite close to Earth in three-dimensional space, and Orient IV was also one of the very few planets with a wormhole route connecting it to Earth. However, various phenomena prevented some planets which were close in three-dimensional space from having connecting wormhole routes. For example, there was no wormhole route between Xi Ceta and Komarr due to the Jay Chou effect. And even though Beta Colony was so close to Earth that generation ships had once traveled between them at sub-light speeds, Baron Chen's law prevented any wormhole from forming between them.

That thought made Hain pause. And then he did some research.

***

"Captain, there is a way to go from Beta Colony to Orient IV," Hain said.

Bel's eyebrows leaped up. "I'm Betan. I think I'd know if there were a wormhole route straight from Beta Colony to Orient IV."

"It's not a wormhole." Hain pointed at a file on the com. "Look. That ship traveled from Beta Colony to Orient IV in two months. _Without_ using a wormhole."

Bel stared at the file. "Holy crap," it said. "They really did get from Beta Colony to Orient IV without jumping through any wormholes." It continued reading. "This says that they did it to show off artificial gravity, which was a new technology back then. I've studied the history of the quaddies. How did I not know about this voyage?"

Hain did not know what a ship traveling from Beta Colony to Orient IV had to do with quaddie history, but he figured it was not important.

"However, I don't think there's any way we could get this ship from Beta Colony to Orient IV that way," Bel said.

"No," Hain said. "But I've done the math, and the mini-shuttle could travel between Beta Colony and Orient IV in two months."

"The mini-shuttle? But it can't jump through wormholes - oh, but it wouldn't _need_ to jump through wormholes. But can it carry enough fuel?"

"The mini-shuttle can launch from planet surfaces into orbit. That takes an incredible amount of energy. Moving from Beta Colony to Orient IV actually takes much less energy than that. And yes, it currently has enough fuel to go from Beta Colony to Orient IV and sustain life support and artificial gravity during transit."

Bel whistled. "But the mini-shuttle can only hold five people. There are six of us."

"We will not need Pilot Adjua."

"No, I suppose we won't, not if that's our plan. At a minimum, we have to take our 'guest' to Orient IV. And if we go with this plan, you're going to Orient IV too, since you're the one with the expertise to pull this stunt off. And I would be going too, since I'm responsible for this mission. I suppose there is no need to take Timoq or Sassoom."

"Adjua, Timoq, and Sassoom can stay with the _Passionflower_ ," Hain said.

"Yes. They can report to Admiral Naismith, and ask him to send backup to Orient IV. They can also try to throw the Cetagandans off our trail. That puts three people on the mini-shuttle. Do we have enough food?"

"I don't know," Hain said. "Let me check."

Hain looked up the current food inventory, and then calculated how much food three people would need for a two-month voyage.

"With current supplies, for a two-month voyage we could only have 2500 calories per day. Split by three people, that about 800 calories per person per day."

"We could buy more foot at the station orbiting Betan Colony - at astronomical cost, of course-"

"Nope. Unless we stocked pure sugar, we would not be able to fit enough food in the mini-shuttle to supply three people with 1500 calories per day for two months."

"I suppose buying a lot of sugar is an option, but if that's all we ate for two months we'd have a lot of nutrient deficiencies..."

"If food limitations is the main obstacle..." a voice said slowly.

Bel and Hain looked around. They were still the only two in the chamber. Then they recognized the voice.

"... I can do something about that," Vio d'Chilian finished as she spoke over the com speaker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is mentioned in Chapter 7 of _Falling Free_ that a ship traveled between Beta Colony and Orient IV in two months. It is not specifically stated that the ship did not use wormholes, but I chose to interpret it that way. The physics are ridiculous/impossible, but this idea wouldn't let go of me.
> 
> The 'Jay Chou effect' and 'Baron Chen's law' are homages to the other fanfic which features Vio d'Chilian, ["In a Chinese Landscape"](http://archiveofourown.org/works/143185). It's a crossover between the Vorkosigan Saga and a Jay Chou music video which features Baron Chen as an actor.


	5. Chapter 5

"That is ridiculous!" Timoq said.

"Which is why this plan might work," Bel said. "Nobody in their right minds would expect us to go to Orient IV _this_ way. Except, perhaps, the Betan Astronomical Survey."

"They might trace that we are accessing the Betan Survey's public databases, and deduce what we are doing from that," Timoq pointed out.

"That is why we are doing a general data dump," Hain said. "We are loading millions of files to camouflage the few files we actually need."

"Excuse me, I am a wormhole pilot, and _I've_ never heard of this," Adjua said. "Can you explain it one more time?"

"The star which Beta Colony orbits is the origin point for a 5-space ripple," Hain said. "According to Baron Chen's law, that ripple is why no true wormhole will ever form between Beta Colony and Earth or Beta Colony and Orient IV - Beta Colony can only form stable wormholes with systems which are at least twenty light-years away. A ship which moves at a sufficiently high velocity relative to Beta Colony's star - it will take the mini-shuttle two weeks of acceleration to reach that velocity - and which has the correct resonance can weave in and out of the pseudo-wormholes generated by the ripple."

"And you're saying that this ship can't achieve that resonance, but the mini-shuttle can? That the mini-shuttle would turn into a giant Necklin rod?"

"It's not the same as a Necklin rod, just as a pseudo-wormhole is not a wormhole, but yes, the shuttle itself would serve the same function with regards to the pseudo-wormholes that a Necklin rod serves with regards to true wormholes."

"Why aren't these pseudo-wormholes used more often?" Timoq asked.

"First of all, it only works in one direction - nobody can take this route from Orient IV to Beta Colony. Second, it takes a long time for a vessel to reach a sufficiently high velocity. Third, most stars are origin points for 5-space ripples - the only others I can think of off hand are the stars which Mahata Solaris and Kibou Daini orbit. Fourth, as the ship moves from one pseudo-wormhole to another, it has to cover far more distance in three-dimensional space than any viable wormhole route between two inhabited planets. And the space covered is proportional to the distance between the destinations in three-dimensional space - this is only feasible because Beta Colony and Orient IV are so close to each other. To go from Mahata Solaris or Kibou Daini to any other inhabited planet, it would take at least ten years. In short, traveling between Beta Colony by true wormholes is much faster and much cheaper."

"Remind me why we need documents from the Betan Survey," Adjua said.

"The Betan Survey is the only organization which has ever used 5-space ripples for travel within the last two centuries. They occasionally find them useful for exploring parts of the galaxy where wormhole mapping is inadequate. It seems the last Betan Survey ship to use a wormhole ripple was the _Rene Magritte_. They used the 5-space ripple originating in Beta Colony to go to a star system with no planets suitable for life, and from that star system they jumped through a series of wormholes which led them to the planet now known as Sergyar. That is how it got from Beta Colony to Sergyar without passing through any inhabited systems, even though there is no conventional wormhole route between the two planets."

"And I always assumed that the Betan Survey got to unexplored star systems just by going through a hundred wormhole jumps," Bel said.

"That is what they do most of the time," Hain said.

"Why do you need these documents from the Betan Survey Database?" Timoq asked.

"Even though I know the basic concepts, I need much more detailed information about the ripple originating in Beta Colony to do the calibrations. Also, reading about how the Betan Survey uses the ripple will no doubt be useful."

"How do you _know all this_?" Adjua asked.

"It's an interest of mine. I spend a lot of my free time reading about 5-space phenomena. Most people just stop with wormhole theory - which makes sense, because that has by far the most practical use of all 5-space science, but there is so much more going on in five-dimensional space."

"Have you considered applying for a job with the Betan Survey?" Bel asked.

"No, absolutely not! Having to spend most of my time in space is bad enough, I'm not going to leave the part of the Nexus settled by humans longer than necessary." Hain sighed. "In fact, that is why I try to learn as much as I can about 5-space science. It started when I was first assigned to space duty before I went into exile. The emptiness of space really gets to me. Learning about 5-space phenomena - even though even the best scientists still don't understand most of what happens in five-dimensional space, and they are so strange, so alien - it at least makes me feel that space is not so empty after all."

"Our pursuers probably do not have as much imagination as you," Timoq commented. "But just in case our pursuit do figure out what we are doing, _can_ they follow you?"

"Of course," Hain said. "They will just take a conventional wormhole route to Orient IV. Hopefully, you can distract them with the _Passionflower_."

"I do not believe we have enough food for three people for two months," Sassoom said. "I assume we will dock at a station to purchase some more?"

"Nope," Bel said. "Our dear passenger will take care of that."

"You mean the princess can speak!" Adjua said mockingly. Hain, Timoq, and Sassoom glared at her.

"You know that mysterious box that House Cordonah told you to take aboard while we were at the meeting on Cordonah station," Bel said.

"Yes."

"Apparently, it is full of various drugs developed by the Cetagandan haut. One of them is a thyroid suppressant, and our dear passenger says that she has enough doses for this entire trip."

"What exactly is a thyroid suppressant?" Adjua asked.

"The thyroid regulates the body's metabolism. With the thyroid suppressed, our metabolisms will go way down, and we'll need to consume much fewer calories. It will also probably induce us to be asleep most of the time. Even if we did have plenty of food, I'd rather sleep through a two-month journey in a small space than stay awake."

"Can't thyroid suppression cause insomnia?" Sassoom asked.

"I don't know, but our dear passenger says that this particular drug will make us very sleepy most of the time."

"What if there is an emergency?" Timoq asked.

"Our own medical supplies include stocks of artificial cortisol and adrenalin, and our dear passenger says a mix of those would be sufficient to revive us."

"But what if you all are asleep during an emergency?"

"She says that, as haut, she can maintain a high level of functionality even with low metabolism. As long as the voyage lasts less than three months, it should not cause long-term damage to her health."

"Seems you're putting an awful lot of trust in the princess," Adjua said.

"She can't pilot the mini-shuttle, not even manage the auto-pilot. Without us, she won't make it to Orient IV."

"This all sounds like batshit to me, but this is hardly the most batshit mission I've done for this mercenary outfit," Adjua commented. "You're the captain. And at least I'm sticking with conventional space travel."

***

After arriving in Betan space, it took a few days to set up everything up. They had to get in position and wait for both the planet of Beta Colony and the sole wormhole station to be on the opposite side of the star from the direction of Orient IV. That would not stop the Betan authorities from detecting the mini-shuttle's departure - they had sensors all over the system - but hopefully the star would block out all other potential observers. Those days gave Hain time to refine their flight plan.

Bel made up for Timoq a story about disposing a broken-down mini-shuttle that he could pass on to any curious Betan authorities who took an interest in the situation. It also gave him some Dendarii contacts on Beta Colony in case they got in trouble in Betan space.

The mini-shuttle had space for four passengers and one pilot. Technically, a person could also fit into the tiny bathroom, and another person could fit into the engineering crawlspace. Even though the shuttle was not at full capacity, space was tight.

Vio d'Chilian, as always, remained inside her _minsa_. Knowing that her ultimate destination was Orient IV, it made sense that their clients had asked that she be outfitted with Orient IV clothing. Hain was also grateful that he would never have to see her body during this trip because her appearance was extremely attractive and he did not want to embarrass himself.

Though Bel started taking the thyroid suppressant shortly after the mini-shuttle launched, Hain waited forty-eight hours so that he could focus on ensuring that they were taking the right course and make any necessary adjustments.

When he took the first dose of the thyroid suppressant, it was a relief. The past week had been utterly draining, and the rest was welcome. He had done most of what he could to make this gambit work. Now, they would either arrive at Orient IV alive, or they would not.

***

Under the influence of the thyroid-suppressant, Hain was only awake for four hours per twenty-four hour cycle. He would spend about an hour checking the progress of their journey, and another hour inspecting the condition of the mini-shuttle. During the rest of the time he would either daydream or listen to music. Bel was always asleep when Hain was awake.

While Hain was listening to recordings of Iffimio folk songs, he heard Vio d'Chilian ask "Why are you a mercenary?"

Hain had not even known that Vio d'Chilian was awake. Ordinarily, he would have responded by saying 'excuse me', but Vio was haut, and he had no clue what a polite response would be. Instead, he remained silent.

"Why did you leave Cetaganda?" she asked.

Hain figured that remaining silent was probably rude. "I was working at a test center in the city of Yovarr..." he began, and then he told her the story of how he became an exile.

"Why did you go with the hermaphrodite?"

"It was about the only way I could get off the space station without turning into a slave."

"Must you stay with the mercenaries?"

"If I return to Cetagandan, I will be punished far more severely than I was for simply taking the examination under false pretences. If I settle on a planet with an extradition treaty with Cetaganda, I will always be in danger. Planets which do not have extradition treaties with Cetaganda are generally hostile to Cetagandan immigrants, though I am uncertain about very isolated planets such as Athos. In practical terms, if I did not stay with the Dendarii, I would almost have to go to Jackson's Whole."

"Why not go to Jackson's Whole? I realize it has a very limited biosphere, but surely it is better than living in space."

"Jacksonians are terrible at human gardening."

"Why do you say that?"

"For someone who has never traveled outside the Imperium, it is very difficult to explain. Jacksonian barons regularly employ horrible practices which even the worst lords of Cetaganda would never consider."

Vio d'Chilian was silent. Hain took this as a sign that he should stop speaking, but then she said "Continue."

"A decent gardener works to ensure that all of the key components of their garden remains healthy for the duration of their natural lives, unless there is good reason to do otherwise. A good gardener strives to bring out the best of every component the garden, unless, again, there is good reason to do otherwise. Jacksonians are gardeners who keeps on replanting and restocking components of the garden, use them, abuse them, and when they get sick and die prematurely, replant and restock some more.

"All subjects of the Imperium are guaranteed to have their basic needs met so that they can best serve their role within the emperor's eight-planet garden. When I first became aware that societies such as Jackson's Whole exist, where they discard humans not as judicious pruning, or even just casual mistakes, but simply because they are unwilling to put in the effort to have a good human garden, and content to restock and restock - I could not believe it. There are also planets where they let humans grow like weeds, then control them like weeds. It helped me appreciate just how lucky I was to be born Cetagandan. The _tul_ live far better than many, many people throughout the Nexus."

"Yet you chose to leave the Imperium."

"Under the circumstances I was in - and I bear responsibility for putting myself into those circumstances - leaving was the better option. But my situation is unusual."

"Haut Moira lives on Jackson's Whole."

"I do not know her circumstances. It is true that a few do manage to rise to the top - in fact, someone of low birth had much better odds of rising up in the social hierarchy on Jackson's Whole than in the Imperium. Nonetheless, I much prefer living in the garden of the Dendarii Mercenaries." 

"What kind of gardener is Admiral Naismith?"

"Admiral Naismith is a master gardener."

"Explain."

"Admiral Naismith does not choose what grows in his garden. Not at first, at least. He watches to see what will establish themselves on their own. Then, when he sees what is there, he gets a feel for the potential of the assembly. He makes changes - a snip here, some additional nutrients there - to turn the wild assortment into a garden. Eventually, he discovers the order and beauty within the chaos, and uncovers the wonderful garden which no gardener would have ever planned."

Vio d'Chilian said nothing, nor did she say anything more before Hain went back to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > "Yes, my lord," she said, her lashes sweeping down demurely, and she escaped around Ivan with a bare nod of farewell. Chilian brought himself to nod also, acknowledging the outlanders' existence; with an effort, Miles felt. The general glanced once back over his shoulder as he whisked his wife away. So what sin had ghem-General Chilian committed to win _her_?
>> 
>> " _Lucky_ guy," sighed Ivan in envy.
> 
> \- _Cetaganda_ , Chapter 12

Shortly after Hain finished eating his ration bar, Vio d'Chilian asked "What do you know about my husband, General Chilian?"

"He is the commander of the imperial troops on Sigma Ceta," Hain said. "He's also one of the most famous ghem generals alive, best known for winning the battle of Coeurl and the Riim War."

"I was already his wife before all that happened. Do you know what he did to win a haut wife?"

"No," Hain admitted.

"I am his reward for his service during the Nexialist Rebellion."

"I knew that he was involved in quashing the rebellion, but pardon me, I do not know what he did."

"He was not at the front lines. What do you know about the Nexialist Rebellion."

"A ghem faction tried to take over Rho Ceta and secede from the Imperium." Hain paused for a moment in thought. "One could say that it began with the failed invasion of Barrayar. The ghem on Rho Ceta were punished particularly harshly. Many felt that the punishment was unfair and that, furthermore, it was the leadership on Eta Ceta which had caused the invasion to fail. The Nexialists concluded that the emperor was weak, and that they would be better off if Rho Ceta became independent." Hain paused. "Do you want me to continue?"

"Yes."

"Meanwhile, even though Komarr had been nominally an independent political entity, the truth was that it was a client state of Cetaganda. Only the wormholes were of value to the Imperium, not the planet itself, which is why it was never occupied. The tacit agreement was that the Imperium would offer Komarr military protection, which meant that the Komarrans did not need to pay for their own defense, and in exchange the Komarrans let the Cetagandans access all the wormholes, and denied access to Cetaganda's enemies.

"However, there always were Komarrans who opposed the 'special relationship' with Cetaganda. They believed there was a risk that the Imperium would eventually annex Komarr, and that Komarr needed to build its own native military capacity. That is why the Imperium always paid the Komarran elite generously for large-scale access to the wormholes, such as during the invasion of Barrayar. They figured that paying to keep the pro-Cetagandan faction dominant in the Komarran senate was much cheaper than more direct means of control.

"The Nexialists reached out to the Komarran Senate, and persuaded enough of them that Komarr would be better off as the neighbor of an independent Rho Ceta than as a client of the Imperium. The Nexialists even reached out to Emperor Ezar Vorbarra, who had an obvious interest in splitting Rho Ceta from the Imperium. Both Komarr and Barrayar offered the Nexialists significant support, and that is part of why the rebellion was so difficult to stamp out. The Barrayarans call the Nexialist Rebellion the 'Second Cetagandan War'. Do you want me to talk about the aftermath too?"

"Yes," Vio d'Chilian said.

"Komarr was resource poor but wormhole rich; Barrayar was wormhole poor but resource rich. The Nexialist rebellion taught the ghem leadership that Komarr and Barrayar could be when they worked together. Thus, they made it a priority to render friendly relations between Komarr and Barrayar impossible.

"Cetaganda withdrew military protection from Komarr as a punishment for their support of the rebellion. The Komarran Senate considered developing a native military, but ultimately decided that they could rely on mercenaries and alliances with neighbors such as Pol for defense. Perhaps they hoped that, in a true crisis, Cetaganda would intervene after all."

"The ghem, of course, knew that Barrayar's military was improving rapidly, and that the odds were high that they would try to invade Komarr. Ironically, the Komarrans had funded some of those military improvements during the Nexialist Rebellion. They predicted that such an invasion would poison Komarran-Barrayaran relations for a very long time. And they _wanted_ Barrayar's conquest to succeed. If the Komarrans successfully fended off the Barrayarans, that would have encouraged them to believe that they did not need Cetagandan protection after all. The ghem intended to let Barrayar torment the Komarrans for a while, and then, when the Komarrans were weary of Barrayaran rule, to sweep in and rescue them from the 'barbarians'.

"Admiral Vorkosigan's _Komarr Report_ \- which all Dendarii mercenaries are strongly urged to read - is an insightful work, but I find that many of my comrades overlook its limitations. Admiral Vorkosigan wrote it for his emperor and for other Barrayaran military officers of his time. He describes how he persuaded Komarr's other nominal allies to refrain from assisting Komarr, but he says nothing about Rho Ceta because his audience already knew exactly why the Cetagandans did not intervene on Komarr's behalf. He does not discuss contingencies because the purpose of the report was to discuss what happened and why, not to discuss things which did not happen. However, I am almost certain that, had there been any sign that Cetaganda was defending Komarr after all, he would have aborted the invasion." 

Hain smiled. "I do not know if this had been possible, but if I had been in charge of defending Komarr, I would have tried to fake a Cetagandan intervention in order to spook the Barrayarans into retreat.

"Sometimes people ask why Barrayar occupied the planet of Komarr itself rather than just taking control of the wormholes. The answer is that Ezar knew that that was what Cetaganda had done - albeit tacitly rather than explicitly - and that Komarr had eventually supported a rebellion against the Emperor. Ezar concluded that he needed more direct control over the Komarrans to prevent them from doing the same to himself or his successors.

"The ghem's biggest mistake was that they assumed that a Komarr-Barrayar alliance would only be stable if Komarr and Barrayar were equals, or at least co-sovereign. They did not expect Barrayaran rule over Komarr to be viable in the long run, and that, when the Komarrans begged Cetaganda to expel the Barrayarans, that it would be a straightforward task. Obviously, it was not. Personally, I think it was Admiral Vorkosigan's leadership during the Tullia Roy Initiative - the Barrayarans call it the 'Third Cetagandan War' - which best demonstrates his prowess as a military commander, not the conquest of Komarr."

"I have never heard an account of the Nexialist Rebellion which put so much emphasis on the Komarran and Barrayaran perspectives, and so little emphasis on the ghem," Vio d'Chilian said.

"Ah - there are a lot of Barrayarans in the Dendarii Mercenaries - we are named after a mountain range on Barrayar after all. And many non-Barrayaran Dendarii officers are in awe of Admiral Vorkosigan. I've gotten into the habit of looking at things from their point of view." In fact, Hain had figured that Vio d'Chilian, as the wife of General Chilian knew much more about the activities of both the Nexialist rebels and the loyalist ghem than he did, and so he deliberately focused on an aspect of the Nexialist rebellion which he thought that she was less familiar with.

"I am surprised that the Dendarii Mercenaries have such interest in Rho Ceta Sector politics." She paused before she asked "Do you think it is possible that the events similar to the Nexialist Rebellion will happen in the near future?"

"I cannot say it is _impossible_ , but I think it is extremely unlikely. The ghem of Rho Ceta are carefully watched these days. They would not be able to repeat the Nexialist Rebellion without Barrayaran support. Ezar Vorbarra participated in the Nexialist Rebellion - it was an opportunity for Barrayar to increase its influence over the wormholes, and controlling those wormholes is a core Barrayaran interest. Destabilizing Rho Ceta or splitting it from the Imperium is not a core Barrayaran interest. If their emperor were an enthusiastic warhawk, they might consider supporting a new Nexialist rebellion anyway. But I do not think their current emperor would do such a thing."

"Do you think Lieutenant Timoq would ever participate in such a rebellion?" Vio d'Chilian asked.

Hain thought about it for a moment before he responded. "No."

"Explain."

"Lieutenant Timoq enjoys holding the high ghem in contempt and refusing to bow to them. He is more interested in showing off his defiance than in actually replacing the current ghem leadership. The Nexialists, by contrast, were very careful about hiding their intentions until they were in a strong position to defy the emperor."

There was a silence for a while. Hain thought that their conversation might be over, but then Vio d'Chilian said "My husband was in charge of dealing with the prisoners of war during the Nexialist Rebellion."

Hain could not think of a way that someone responsible for managing the prisoners of war could do something so extraordinary that he would be rewarded with a haut wife.

"He treated the foreign prisoners-of-war normally - held them hostage to exchange for prisoners-of-war taken by the Barrayarans," Vio d'Chilian continued. "He also treated the _tul_ prisoners-of-war in the usual manner."

Hain nodded. He knew that, since _tul_ generally did not choose whether they were on the loyal or rebel side during ghem rebellions, _tul_ who worked on rebel spaceships were rarely tortured. Instead, they were simply executed.

"He built a dome, and put all the captured rebel ghem inside. The rebel prisoners had no contact with the outside world. Food rations were dropped from the ceiling of the dome."

Hain waited for Vio d'Chilian to explain how her husband tortured the prisoners, but she paused. Being tossed into a giant dome and offered adequate food seemed like a very light punishment for organizing a rebellion against the emperor.

"Sometimes, the dome would contract. And sometimes, although enough rations were always supplied to feed all the prisoners on average, sometimes a surplus quantity was delivered, and sometimes a shortage quantity was delivered. Over time, the rebels lost all group cohesion, then started fighting each other more viciously than they ever fought the loyalists, after that those who had not died had given into despair, and finally, the survivors were released. 

"As you know, killing the rebel prisoners would have done little to deter other ghem who harbored ambitions of defying the emperor. But observing how _broken_ the wills of the rebels had a very chilling effect, especially since they did not know _how_ the rebels had been tortured. The emperor was very impressed by how elegant and effective General Chilian's tactic was, which is how he became my husband.

"Both the Tullia Roy Initiative and the invasion of Vervain failed, and there was no need to break the wills of prisoners during the Riim War. However if, say, the Imperium had needed to crush the spirits of a group of very stubborn Barrayaran prisoners of war, I had no doubt that the dome technique would have been used again. I think it is only a matter of time before the ghem employ it against foreigners."

Hain still did not understand how such a simple prison could be so effective. No doubt he would have to witness it in action to appreciate it.

"General Chilian is very much the kind of man who would devise such a prison." Vio d'Chilian paused. "I met him for the very first time at our wedding. I hated being cast out of the haut, and I was ready to hate my husband, but ... he is very charming. Very, very charming. During the ceremony, I felt that, at the very least, I ought not to direct my anger at him. After all, he was not his fault that I had to marry a ghem. During the first few weeks of our marriage, he was so kind to me. Or at least, it seemed like kindness. I still would have never chosen to marry him, but his manner at the beginning of our marriage at least persuaded me to be as good a wife as I could be. I was very obedient."

Vio d'Chilian, as always, was within the _minsa_ , so Hain had no clue about her body language, but he heard the note of unease in her speech.

"It was always ... little things. Nothing I could dare blame him for. After all, he was the charming and brilliant ghem general, and I was the woman who was too stupid to be worthy of being haut. When he did anything that bothered me, it meant that I was being too sensitive, not that he was being inconsiderate. At some point, it stopped being obedience - I simply did not have the will to resist him in anything, until..." Vio d'Chilian broke off here. "After decades, I realized that he had broken my will, just as he had broken the will of the rebels. I then concluded that I would be better off dead then letting myself go on in that shape. I did not know if I could resist, but I decided it was at least worth trying."

Hain was at a loss for what to say. Vio d'Chilian's voice conveyed her pain more clearly than her words. He hoped that Vio d'Chilian would never have to return to that marriage, but he did not know whether he ought to express that or not. 

To have her expose such vulnerability before him was a gift he felt he did not deserve.

Nothing more was said before Hain went back to sleep.

***

When Hain woke again, and went through the maintenance routine, he thought about the possibility that another group of ghem might imitate the Nexialists.

He still did not think that the ghem of Rho Ceta would try anything like that in the near future, but that did not mean it could not happen in other parts of the Imperium. It would be easier to do on one of the planets which did not have a direct wormhole route to Eta Ceta, and which had a neighbor which was both powerful and had a motivation to break off a piece of the Cetagandan Empire. The planet which best fit that profile was Lamda Ceta, and the potentially interested neighbor was ... Orient IV.

Hain had some idea of the vast sums of money which were funding this mission. It was conceivable that someone might want to pay such a ridiculous amount just to secure control over a beautiful haut woman, but that was a stretch. Furthermore, having lots of money did not explain how they also had so much inside information on Cetagandan security.

However, if their goal was to take one of the Cetagandan satrapies rather that just a single woman, spending so much money made a lot more sense. And anyone who hoped to attempt such a thing would need extensive knowledge of Cetagandan security...

Hain was sure that high ghem and haut lords paid close attention to all relations between the ghem of Lamda Ceta and the leadership of Orient IV, but perhaps a haut lady from Sigma Ceta could do something which a ghem lord from Lamda Ceta could not...

Not to mention that, if General Chilian failed to recover his haut wife, he would almost certainly be demoted - and worse. The ghem forces on Sigma Ceta would be the first to respond to a rebellion on Lamda Ceta, and if their leadership were in disarray...

Of course, Hain did not actually have any evidence that Vio d'Chilian was part of any attempt to split Lamda Ceta from the rest of the Imperium. And even if she were in involved in such an attempt, it was not his concern. He was not responsible for maintaining the integrity of the Imperium. His job was to simply take Vio d'Chilian to Orient IV.


	7. Chapter 7

Hain was humming as he checked the vessel's course. They were well on their way to Orient IV.

"Is that a Cetagandan song?" Vio d'Chilian asked.

Hain abruptly turned his head. He could never tell whether Vio d'Chilian was awake or asleep by looking at her. Whenever she was not talking, he had assumed that she was asleep.

"Yes, it's an Iffimio song," he answered. The last two times he had been awake, Vio d'Chilian had also spoken to him. He had figured that she had simply spontaneously woken up, but this was becoming a pattern.

"Are you usually awake when I am awake?" he asked before he realized that he had spoken the question aloud. This was the very first time he had initiated any kind of dialogue with Vio d'Chilian, rather than simply responding to her. He wished he had not let the words escape from his mouth, but what was done was done.

"Yes," she answered.

"But you don't need to be awake when I'm up," Hain said.

"I also don't need to sleep," she said. "I sleep when the captain is awake."

"He's only awake four hours per twenty-four hour cycle," Hain said.

"Four hours is enough."

"You're on a calorie-restricted diet, like us. Can you do that while being awake for twenty hours..."

"I am haut. I can. I only need enough strength to notice an emergency and revive you and the captain."

Hain was alarmed. "Does that mean that you are becoming weaker?"

"Low calorie intake and staying awake for twenty hours per twenty four hour cycle takes a physical toll, even on haut bodies. But I will recover quickly on Orient IV."

"Would you not conserve more strength if you slept through my waking period?" Hain paused. "Or is there something I do which wakes you? If I'm bothering your rest-"

"I choose to wake when you wake."

Hain did not know why Vio d'Chilian wanted to be awake when he was awake, but he felt that he had already asked her more than enough. He would not ask her to explain her choice.

"You have spent most of your life living with other Iffimio people?" Vio d'Chilian asked.

"Yes."

"Yet it has been years since you have had contact with any other Iffimio?"

"Correct."

"What do you find most strange about non-Cetagandan cultures?"

Hain thought about it for a moment. "The living won't marry the dead."

There was a pause before Vio d'Chilian asked "Does that mean that Iffimio people marry the dead?"

"Yes." 

"That must a specifically Iffimio custom, not a general Cetagandan custom."

"Of course. I know most living Cetagandans do not marry the dead."

"The living marrying the dead. How does that work?"

He had explained Iffimio marriage customs enough times that he fell into a familiar rhythm. "People leave behind a marriage will - they can state that they never want to marry in death, or if they are open to marriage after death, they can define what kind of person is allowed to marry them. They may also choose to have their gametes preserved. Most people who want to marry after death will leave something behind - songs, art, a book, a small shrine - so that they can pursue a posthumous courtship. If a living person decides to marry a dead person, they can look up the marriage will, and if they are eligible, they become married. If the marriage will permits it and gametes are available, the living spouse may have genetic children with the dead spouse."

"Are you the child of such a marriage?"

"No, both of my parents are living. But my sister married a woman who died over a hundred years ago."

"Are you married?"

"No, I have never married."

"Do you have a marriage will?"

"I did. I am sure that it is void now that I am an exile."

"Intergenerational interbreeding. It's an interesting experiment. I am sure that there are haut monitoring how such a marriage custom affects gene flows. I presume that Iffimio culture is haut-designed."

"It is," Hain said. "Both our language and our core customs were designed by haut Iyapo Oankali, over three hundred years ago."

"Oankali? I am from the Oankali constellation."

"So you were born Vio Oankali. Are you a direct descendant of Iyapo Oankali?"

"Concepts such as 'direct descent' do not apply to the _haut_ the same way they apply to those whose genes are selected more randomly. Furthermore, I am a constellation daughter."

"Excuse me, I do not know what 'constellation daughter' mean."

"Some _haut_ are parented, which means that at least forty percent of their variable genes come from a specific haut individual. A few _haut_ are double-parented, most notably our Celestial Lords. I suppose that _tul_ are also double-parented."

"For the most part, yes," Hain replied.

"The _haut_ class also frequently genetically engineers children in such a way that they do not have forty percent of their variable genes in common with any other _haut_ individual. These children are constellation children. In practice, most constellation children are modelled after an exemplary _ba_ \- about eighty percent of my variable genes can be attributed to an old ba servitor of my constellation noted for extraordinary physical beauty. But _ba_ never count as parents.

"If _ba_ are considered to be one stage in genetic experimentation, then we constellation children are the next stage. Unlike the _ba_ , who are limited to the role of servitor, constellation children can aspire to any role within the _haut_ class save that of Celestial Lord. For example, our current Celestial Lady is a daughter of the Degtiar Constellation, and the current satrap governor of Sigma Ceta is a son of the Kety Constellation."

"If you do not have a parent, then who..."

"In most cases, the designer of a constellation child is also responsible for rearing the child. I was designed by _haut_ Frolbericheri Oankali, and her _ba_ servitors took care of me as a child."

Vio d'Chilian stopped there, and there was silence for a few minutes before she continued.

"I am _haut_ Frolbericheri's masterpiece. As a child, I toured throughout the Imperium, to display how my designer had surpassed even the high standards of the _haut_ class in creating such a beautiful child. It is because I was such an excellent demonstration of her skill that she was able to out-compete her rivals and become Consort of Eta Ceta, a position she held until her death ten years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear of your loss," Hain replied.

"Even _haut_ are not immortal. Nor would immortality be desirable, since it would most likely freeze the evolution of the _haut_ class.

"My physical appearance attracted so much attention that it has always been difficult to get people to pay attention to me in any other way. I did well with my _ba_ tutors as a child, but once I progressed to instruction by _haut_ teachers, even when I tried very hard, they only seemed to notice me for my looks, and hardly commented on my intellectual efforts. Perhaps, compared to other _haut_ , my mental abilities are unremarkable. Eventually, when I realized that striving in my studies led me no where, I gave up, and stopped hoping to attain any position within the _haut_ which demanded rigorous education.

"Nonetheless, even though I knew that the higher levels of the _haut_ hierarchy were closed to me, I expected that, as the prize jewel of Eta Ceta Consort _haut_ Frolcheriberi Oankali, my position within the _haut_ class was secure.

"Then there was an incident in which _haut_ Frolcheriberi gravely offended the Celestial Lady. In order to hold onto her position as Consort of Eta Ceta, she had to make a gesture of humility. Thus she sacrificed her masterpiece to a marriage with a _ghem_ officer ... while keeping her parented daughters within the _haut_ class."

Vio d'Chilian did not say any more while Hain continued to check their navigation, nor did she speak while he performed the routine maintenance check. It was not until he finished his tasks and returned to rest position that she spoke again.

"What are your thoughts about my background?"

"My lady, I confess that I do not understand the ways of the _haut_. It seems to me that, if the practice of marrying _ghem_ causes _haut_ women such suffering, that the practice should be ended..."

"Indeed, you do not understand us if you think that we would want to stop the practice of marrying into the _ghem_ ," Vio said. "I certainly do not want the practice to end."

"But you have suffered..." Hain stopped himself. He had no right to discuss Vio d'Chilian's pain.

A few minutes passed before Vio d'Chilian said "No _haut_ woman ever believes that she will be forced to marry a _ghem_. I certainly did not believe it until it happened. I made up a rationale of how it could never happen to me, just like every other _haut_ woman. And we want a means to utterly humiliate our rivals. I fantasize about making half of the current planetary consorts marry _ghem_ men. And then I will slash open the throats of their _ba_ servitors, and defile the Celestial Garden with their blood. Do _tul_ not have thoughts like that?"

"No, not at all," Hain said. "We have utmost respect for the _haut_ and the Celestial Garden. Why would we wish to defile it?"

"So you admire all of the ways of the _haut_?"

"Yes, of course." Then Hain caught himself, and then said "But I do not know much about the ways of the _haut_ , and thus I am not fit to judge."

"Are you suggesting that, if a _tul_ did understand the ways of the _haut_ , that _tul_ would be in a position to judge?"

Hain's kneejerk response would have been to deny that he was suggesting any such thing, that no _tul_ could ever judge the _haut_. But he checked himself. He realized that he did not, in fact, like what he was learning about the _haut_ from Vio d'Chilian. He recognized he was too ignorant for his judgment to have any significance, but he felt it would dishonest for him to claim that he thought that the _haut_ were absolutely beyond reproach.

"Much of the deference that we _tul_ show towards the _haut_ is habitual," he finally said. "Yet we also genuinely feel gratitude to those who gave us our culture."

" _Haut_ of the current generations are much less interested in cultural development than the founding generation," Vio d'Chilian commented.

"Yet they do not neglect it, they simply have delegated the work to the _rek_ class. Perhaps future generations of _haut_ will focus again on cultural development. And even if the _haut_ never take interest in our culture again, we owe it to _haut_ Iyapo Oankali to keep her legacy alive."

Vio d'Chilian had no response.

There was no more conversation for the rest of the shift. Nor was there any more conversation during Hain's next few periods of wakefulness. Perhaps Vio d'Chilian had chosen to sleep additional hours after all.

***

The hours of silence gave Hain much space to ponder. He was disappointed to learn that a _haut_ woman would have violent fantasies more befitting a _ghem_. However, Vio d'Chilian was, in a sense, a _ghem_. Perhaps the _haut_ elders had even recognized her _ghem_ tendencies and that was one reason they married her to a _ghem_. Or maybe these tendencies had only developed during her decades of living among the _ghem_. 

What made Hain feel saddest was Vio's tale of how her beauty outshone all her other merits, and because the other _haut_ only saw her beauty, they considered that to be a license to use her as an object. Or maybe the _haut_ always used each other as objects. Hain did not know.

Though he hardly knew her, he had the sense that there was more to her than her looks. For one, she had the fortitude to put herself through the physical hardship of serving as a watch for the vessel at most hours on a very limited diet. Perhaps that was nothing special for a member of the _haut_ , but it impressed Hain.

And she also had the audacity to break from the Imperium. She had not even been born as _ghem_ , the class most adapted to living outside of the Imperium. Hain did not know how long she would last without a mental breakdown, or how much support she might have on Orient IV, but having gone through the trial of leaving the ordered world of the Imperium for the chaos of the Nexus himself, he had respect for what she was attempting.

***

It had been about a day since they ended the thyroid suppressant and calorie restriction regime. They were due to arrive in Orient IV space within two days.

Hain was scanning for signs of Dendarii ships in Orient IV space. After their long journey from Beta Colony, the mini-shuttle was in no shape to attempt a planetary landing, and without assistance from another Dendarii ship, reaching the surface of Orient IV would be challenging.

"Captain, I have spotted the _Ariel_ ," Hain announced.

"Yes!" Bel exclaimed. "I was hoping that Admiral Naismith would send me my ship. I'll get to see how 'Airman' Higgs is taking care of my precious." Lieutenant Higgs had been temporarily promoted to captain and given command of the _Ariel_ in Bel's absence.

"The sensors show that the _Ariel_ is on course to exit Orient IV space. Considering the time delay between when light leaves the _Ariel_ and when it reaches our sensors, the _Ariel_ is almost certainly no longer in Orient IV space at this time. They are accelerating towards us."

"That doesn't make sense," Bel said. "If we are travelling at high velocities in opposite directions, it will be harder to rendezvous than if the _Ariel_ had stayed in Orient IV space and picked us up after we had achieved more deceleration relative to Orient IV. Much as I enjoy Lieutenant Higgs' ridiculous stunts, this is not the time or place for him to show off."

Hain continued the scan. "It seems that the _Ariel_ is being pursued by five Cetagandan military vessels."

"Shit! Can they outrun the _Ariel_?"

"No, it seems that they cannot accelerate as quickly as the _Ariel_. However..." Hain did some calculations "... their formation is such that, if the _Ariel_ were to turn around and return to Orient IV, it would not be able to avoid encountering at least one Cetagandan vessel. Nor can we."


	8. Chapter 8

Bel, Hain, and Vio were watching the tightbeam message from the _Ariel_.

"We have run the simulations over and over again. If we change our velocity to rendezvous with you, our pursuers will be able to catch us like sitting ducks. Every single one of their ships packs more firepower than the _Ariel_ \- we can't effectively defend ourselves if we get within range.

"They have sent us a message from Ghem-General Chilian, demanding information about the whereabouts of his wife. It seems that he is aboard one of these ships.

"We await your orders, Captain Thorne. Captain Higgs out."

"Sergeant tul Larro," Bel said. "Do your simulations show any way we can rendezvous with the _Ariel_ without getting caught?"

"No, sir."

"Is there any way we can at least get to an orbital station without getting caught?"

"No, sir."

"Is Captain Higgs right about their firepower?"

"Yes, sir. I've been aboard that class of warship a few times myself."

"So we're fucked."

Hain did not like the possible maneuver he found, but it was duty to report it. "Captain, we can set it up so that, if the Cetagandans move to catch us, it will create a gap in their formation which will allow the _Ariel_ to escape."

"We would be doubly fucked, but the _Ariel_ at least would not be fucked." Bel slammed its hand on a wall. "I fucking hate this. I fucking hate messing up a job. But if we're fucked no matter what, we might as well give the _Ariel_ a chance to get out."

Bel paced furiously, which in the small confines of the shuttle meant that it turned around at every step. "The feelie drama's not over till the big orgasm," it finally said. "If we're going to be fucked, we might as well try to get a really big orgasm out of this."

"Sorry, that's how Betans talk," Hain said as an aside to Vio.

"The first step is to stay alive. You two are the Cetagandans. How can we not die?"

"Does Admiral Naismith have a reputation for trying to recover his officers alive and well?" Vio asked.

"Of course he does! He'll do more to save his people than pretty much any other mercenary leader."

"Then you have value as a hostage. They probably will not kill you before they make contact with your admiral." Vio then faced Hain. "You are in much greater danger."

"Sergeant tul Larro is also Dendarii! Admiral Naismith will want him back too."

"I am afraid that my husband will not want to return a Cetagandan lawbreaker to your admiral. It will be best if they do not know that a renegade _tul_ is among us."

"I can hide in the engineering crawl space," Hain said.

"Don't they have bioscanners?" Bel asked.

"If I break some of the equipment down there, it will mask my bio-presence. Considering how far we've travelled to get there, malfunctioning systems on this shuttle will not seem suspicious to them. I won't be able to hide from a serious inspection, but maybe they won't look too closely at first. It would help if there is a distraction."

"I am sure that my reunion with my husband will be distracting. Captain Thorne, are you allergic to fast-penta?"

"No."

"In that case, I will have to use one of my drugs to render you unconscious."

"What!"

"Fast-penta does not work on unconscious people. And they will use fast-penta on you as soon as they can. You'll give away that there is a third person on this vessel, and any preparations we may make right now. Besides, if I knock you unconscious, I can pretend that you seized me against my will, that I used my drug on you in a move of desperation, and that I am grateful that my husband rescued me."

"But won't they use fast-penta on you?"

"They cannot use fast-penta on me without assistance from the Celestial Garden."

"They might not want to follow the rules."

"I did not mean that it is _against the rules_. I mean that they _literally_ cannot use fast-penta to make me answer their questions. Only the Celestial Garden has the fast-penta formula which is effective for interrogating _haut_. They would not approve of an interrogation outside of Cetagandan-controlled territory."

Hain knew that the _haut_ guarded their secrets carefully. It made sense that they had taken measures to ensure that those secrets could not easily be leaked through fast-penta.

"Won't they be able to just wake me up in their sickbay?"

"I have a drug which will make it impossible for them to return you to consciousness for at least four hours."

"Sergeant Hain, let's say they don't find you here right away. What would you do?"

"I can't stay in the engineering crawlspace for too long. After about half an hour, I'd try to break out and get onto the ship. I have been on ships of this design before, and I know the layout, so I may be able to find a refuge."

"Well, if they are going to put me on fast-penta after four hours, it's probably best if I don't know where this 'refuge' is," Bel said. "But is there any hope that at some point we will be able to get off the Cetagandan ship alive and reach the _Ariel_ or Orient IV?"

"I can't guarantee anything," Hain said. "But we do have a chance."

"I don't like the idea of becoming unconscious, but I have to admit that this is starting to sound like a halfway decent plan, and I don't have anything better. Okay, should we be armed? I guess there's not much point in me having any weapons if I'm going not going to be able to use them."

"Yes, there is a point," Vio said. "Realism. It will support my claim that you kidnapped me if you are discovered with some weapons."

"Sergeant Hain, if you have a weapon, will its energy signature give you away?"

"If I can cover my bio-presence, I can also cover an energy signature. I'll take a nerve disruptor."

"Nerve disruptor? Not a stunner?"

"Stunned _ghem_ can later talk about who attacked them. Dead _ghem_ cannot."

"Ruthless. What if the ship has an automatic bio-presence counter?"

"It does have one."

"Then wouldn't it be better to stun people, to avoid tipping it off?"

"As soon as I appear it might get tipped off, since my bio-presence isn't suppose to be there. Then it won't matter so much if some bio-presences disappear."

"True. Well, if you think it increases your odds of survival, you'll get a nerve disruptor. You want the portable bioscanner here too?"

"Yes, thank you, Captain."

"Any weapons for you, lady?"

"They will probably know right away if I have a stunner or nerve disruptor. Am I correct, Sergeant Hain?"

"Yes. But because you are _haut_ , they will not search you as carefully. You might be able to get away with carrying a vibra knife."

"Very well, I will take the knife."

"So. I'm thinking that it's best if the _Ariel_ does not try to contact the Cetagandans. What do you think?"

"I agree, Captain."

"Very well. Bring up the simulation which lets the _Ariel_ escape, I'm going to send it with my tightbeam message. I will order them to stay out of range of the Cetagandan ships and try to maintain a path back to Orient IV, but to stay close enough to monitor the situation as long as it is safe for them to do so."

***

Hain furiously worked to finish programming the key drive as the Cetagandan ship was closing in. Soon, he would have to go into the crawlspace. 

"There!" he said. He then handed the key drive to Vio d'Chilian. "My lady, it would help if you could put this into a terminal as soon as possible."

"What does it do?"

"First, it will wipe out all vid recordings from the prior six hours, and disable further vid recording. It will also disable the bioscanners so that they won't know how many live human-sized vertebrates there are on board."

"Are the computer systems so easy to break into?"

"I memorized some of the security overrides we used when we extracted you from Sigma Ceta, my lady. I hope they work here too."

"What security overrides?"

"The ones our client gave us."

There was a pause. "If they worked to get you through Sigma Ceta security, they will most likely work on this ship too."

"Can you tell us _anything_ about our client?" Bel asked. "We can use all the information we can get now. It could save our lives."

"Or cost them, if assassins get hired to eliminate you," Vio d'Chilian replied.

Hain could easily believe that someone who had a lot of funds, had a means of breaking through _Cetagandan_ security, and had a paranoid obsession with hiding their own identity would send assassins to kill someone who knew too much. He was also a little worried about Vio d'Chilian having to deal directly with someone like that.

"If you have a security override, can you not do more than disable vid recordings and bioscanners?" Vio asked.

"It's a complicated system. Some parts are much more guarded than others. I can't touch life support, for example. Or the gravitic lances."

"Why me? Surely you know better how to install such a drive?"

"You are going aboard the ship first, my lady. It's best if the bioscanner never has a chance to detect me."

From beneath the fabric of the _minsa_ a hand extended forth to take the key drive. "Very well. I will see what I can do."

They did not have much time left. Hain went into the crawlspace to break the coolant lines, then came back out to slather himself with synthetic sweat so he could survive in the space once it heated up.

As Hain put on the breath mask, Vio said "In case we do not meet again, I wish to thank you two, and the Dendarii Mercenaries. If your admiral had not accepted this contract which all other mercenaries had declined, I would still be my husband's prisoner now. I had refused to speak with you and your crew for so long because I wanted to savor the luxury of being able to _choose_ not to have contact with others while I still had the chance. Yet, much as I dislike haut Moira, her advice was sound."

***

As soon as they docked with the Cetagandan vessel, he started the timer. After twenty-five minutes, he would check the situation and see if he could get out of the shuttle. It was a very long twenty-five minutes.

He heard Vio's voice and the voices of various _ghem_ , but he could not hear any distinct words. Then the voices were gone.

During the wait, Hain thought about what to do if he got off the shuttle alive. He knew exactly where he wanted to go on the Cetagandan vessel, but he had to get there first, and once he was there, he was not entirely certain what he would do.

When the timer was up, his wristcom vibrated. Though he did have the portable bioscanner Bel had given him, the same heat which masked his own presence also meant he could not use the bioscanner while he was in the crawlspace. He opened the hatch a crack and spied one _ghem_. In a burst of speed, he threw open the hatch all the way, shot the _ghem_ with the nerve disruptor, and burst out.

Even if Vio had not managed to insert the key drive into a terminal, the fact that the _ghem_ had died at about the same time that Hain became visible to the shipwide bioscanners might have prevented an alert.

The hatch connecting the shuttle to the ship was open. Now he could use his own bioscanner to check for more guards. No people were in the hallway at the moment. Good. Again and again he had to detour to get around some spot which the bioscanner told him had humans. At least he did not have to fire his nerve disruptor again.

He spotted two crew members. _Tul_ crew members.

Hain had reached his destination.


	9. Chapter 9

The crew members, one woman and one man, froze where they stood and looked at Hain in horror. He was sure that they had spotted his nerve disruptor.

"The _ghem_ aboard this ship have taken a _haut_ lady captive, and we are the only ones who can save her," he said in common Cetagandan.

He hoped that this crew was from Xi Ceta. Since the practice on a ship of this size was to only have _tul_ crew members from just one regional culture to maintain morale, all of the _tul_ were probably from the same place in the Imperium. Hain could say "Help me!" in about a dozen different regional languages of Xi Ceta, which would signal that he was also a native of Xi Ceta. And though unlikely, if they were _Iffimio_ ... then he could converse in his native language. Not only would it help him connect to them, it would bring him closer to his native culture than he had been in years.

One of the crew members muttered something in a language Hain did not even recognize, let alone understand. He was probably not from Xi Ceta then. Hope died.

"Who are you?" the female crew member asked in common Cetagandan.

"I am Hain tul Larro, of the Vergam District of Serafir Continent, Xi Ceta. I am Iffimio. And you?"

The woman looked nervously at the man. "I am Mokren tul Sagguch of the Sarche District of Shia, Sigma Ceta. I am Kiche."

"Smege Quazer, of Sarche District, Kiche" the man said quietly.

It stood to reason that a ship carrying the ghem-general of Sigma Ceta had a crew from Sigma Ceta. Though Hain knew that Shia was one of the four continents of Sigma Ceta, he had never heard of the Kiche culture before. He generally did not know much about Cetagandan cultures beyond Xi Ceta. Most likely, they knew as little about Iffimio culture.

"The haut lady being held captive on this ship is a lady of Sigma Ceta," he said, and then he instantly regretted his words. _Tul_ crews generally knew little about what and why their _ghem_ superiors were doing. Thus, they possibly did not know that they were part of an effort to retrieve a _haut_ lady. However, they almost certainly knew that they were being led by the ghem-general of Sigma Ceta himself. If he revealed that the _haut_ lady was the ghem-general's wife, they might not believe that she was being held here by force. Scratch that, they were bloody unlikely to believe that she was being held here by force.

And maybe she was not. Maybe she had put up a good front all along, pretending to cooperate with her kidnappers, and now that she was with her husband again, she could drop the pretense.

No, she could have given away Hain's position in the crawlspace as soon as the _ghem_ came onto the mini-shuttle, and she did not. That meant she wanted Hain to evade capture, at least for a little while longer. It was possible that she was pursuing goals which went against the interests of the Dendarii Mercenaries and their unknown client, but Hain was confident she was not on her husband's side, at least not entirely.

For now, Hain was going to work on the assumption that Vio was on the same side as himself.

Mokren and Smege were still frozen. Though _tul_ crews were trained to deal with all kinds of surprising situations involving machinery, they were not trained to make decisions which had any kind of military or political significance. In particular, they had no training which would prepare them for dealing with an intruder. They apparently had no idea what to do about Hain, so they did nothing.

Still, it might occur to them very soon to alert the _ghem_ and let them sort Hain out.

"I know that we are not meant to fulfill this role. It is the purpose of the _ghem_ , not us, to protect the _haut_. But you know the _ghem_ are untrustworthy. Surely you have witnessed examples of this yourself." Though Hain had been singled out for bad treatment when he had served on a Cetagandan spaceship, other members of the _tul_ crew had their own grievances. Hain assummed that this crew also had reasons to resent their _ghem_ masters. "I escorted the lady because nobody else could, and now, you - we - are her last hope."

They still did nothing. Of course, Hain had not given them anything to do.

"I need access to a terminal, to try to find the lady."

"No," Mokren said. "We cannot let outsiders interfere."

"I am here to rescue the lady!" Hain protested.

"We have no reason to believe you," Mokren replied.

Indeed, what reason did they to believe Hain's word?

If Admiral Naismith were here, he would say whatever was necessary - truth or lies - to get the crew to do what he wanted. But Admiral Naismith might not understand _tul_ people well enough to manipulate them. Hain _was tul_ , but he did not have Admiral Naismith's gifted tongue.

Hain spotted a terminal. Not waiting for the crew members' permission, he went straight to it.

"What are you doing?" Mokren asked. Neither her or Smege did anything to block him.

"Stay here!" Hain barked. He did not want one of them to run off and report him. Then he would have to use the nerve disruptor on them, and Hain did not want to go there. 

They did not bolt. 

"As the lady's escort, I was entrusted with security overrides which grant me computer user privileges." That was technically true. "I am trying to locate her on the ship." He did not check whether or not the vid recorders and bioscanner had been disabled - that would have taken precious time - but even if the vid recorders were disabled, as he hoped, the vid cameras were still operational. He was scanning through them to try to find Vio.

Eventually, he found her, with a man that Hain guessed was ghem-general Chilian and a group of _ghem_. She was still wearing the _minsa_ , but her arms were extended forward, and the ghem-general held her hands.

"There she is!" Hain said.

"This is a joyous reunion," ghem-general Chilian said on the vidscreen.

"Reunion?" Smege asked.

"Indeed it is," Vio said on the vidscreen.

"She says that she is happy to be here," Mokren remarked.

"She has to pretend to be happy," Tul said. "If she openly resisted, the _ghem_ would abuse her even more."

"Now I think it is appropriate that we continue this celebration in private, as husband and wife," ghem-general Chilian said on the vidscreen.

"They're married?" Mokren said sharply.

"A marriage against her will," Hain responded. He did not mention that the wedding had happened decades ago.

Hain tracked them with the vid cameras. The _ghem_ escorted them to the door of a chamber. Ghem-general Chilian entered the chamber, Vio d'Chilian followed him, and the door closed. The vid view switched to the interior of the chamber. It looked like a bedroom, the most luxurious kind of bedroom one would ever find on a Cetagandan military vessel.

"It is wrong to watch that," Mokren said urgently.

"You're right," Hain said. And Mokren was right. None of them ought to invade the privacy of a _haut_ woman in the privacy of her husband's bedroom. And yet he hesitated to shut off the vid camera feed.

Seeing that he was too slow to cut the connection between the terminal and the vid camera in ghem-general Chilian's bedroom, Smege shoved Hain aside. Smege then frantically tried to find a way to cut the vid feed herself while covering his eyes with his hand to stop him from seeing what _tul_ were not meant to see.

"My darling," ghem-general Chilian said on the vidscreen. "You can take that Oriental veil-hat off now."

Hain saw that Mokren was moving away. Fearing that she would finally report him to the _ghem_ , he ran after her and grabbed her. The Dendarii Mercenaries had seen to it that he had basic training in hand-to-hand combat; he would have been no match for a _ghem_ fighter, but he was certainly capable of physically restraining Mokren.

"I would rather that you removed it, my dear husband," Vio replied on the vidscreen.

Mokren screamed. Three more _tul_ crew members ran in. Scared, Hain pulled out the nerve disruptor with his right hand as he maintained his hold on Mokren with his left arm.

"If you betray the lady by turning me over to the _ghem_ traitors on this ship, I will kill you," he threatened.

They heard the sound of the ghem-general saying "Arrggggh" from the terminal's speakers, and then the sound of a soft thud. Smege took a glance through his fingers, gasped, then moved back. then moved to see the screen. Even Mokren could not resist looking.

The screen showed that ghem-general Chilian had collapsed onto the floor. Vio d'Chilian was no longer wearing the _minsa_. It was the second time ever that Hain had seen Vio's face, and thought looking at her through the lens of a vid camera did not have the same impact as seeing her in person, it still stunned him to see such beauty in a human once again. 

The first time he had seen her face, she had been unconscious; now her face looked alive. Very, very alive.

It was only after Hain had gotten over the radiance of Vio d'Chilian's face that he noticed the vibra-knife in Vio's hand, and that the knife was dripping with blood.


	10. Chapter 10

Hain let go of Mokren, and lowered the nerve disruptor.

"Now do you see?" he said. "Do you understand that we must work together to protect the lady."

The three crew members who had walked in had not looked at the vidscreen before this moment, and were reluctant to do so when then saw there was a _haut_ lady. Then Smege and Mokren made comments in a language which Hain did not understand.

"We can't do anything for our lady," Smege said quietly. "We are _tul_."

Mokren gingerly moved to the terminal. She did not terminate the vid camera feed, which showed that Vio went to lie down on the bed, but began a series of diagnostic checks.

"If we do not help her, the _ghem_ will punish her for this," Hain said.

"They would not dare!" said one of the crew who had recently arrived.

"No," Smege said. He hesitated before continuing "Hain gh- tul Larro is right. We are outside of the Imperium, and the _ghem_ have more power here than the _haut_. They will avenge their leader, even if it means attacking the lady. But we cannot change this."

Vio looked safe in the vid. However, the _ghem_ might learn what happened to their general at any moment, and even Hain was not sure what they would do at that point. Also, they needed to know how the bedroom was guarded.

"May I take the terminal again?" Hain asked.

Mokren glared at him. "There is evidence of tampering," she said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"I am not sure what was done, but I cannot trust this vid camera feed."

Hain figured it out. "Yes, I did arrange for our lady to be able to, ah, interfere with the computer systems." He thought he had programmed it so that there would be no traces, but it had been a rush job. The programming had been crude and sloppy. "But the vid camera feed is real."

"We cannot trust you," Mokren said.

Not knowing at the moment how to demonstrate his trustworthiness, Hain said "I understand, but can you at least check what is outside the bedroom door?"

It took a moment for Mokren to switch the vid camera feed. Clearly, she was more skilled in this than Smege - if Smege had been able to do that quickly, he would have done it when he had been at the terminal.

There were two _ghem_ guards outside the chamber where Vio reclined on the bed and her husband still lay on the floor. Hain could beat multiple _tul_ crew in a fight armed with a nerve disruptor, but he knew it would not be a match for one _ghem_ guard, let alone two, without an advantage like the one he had against that one _ghem_ he had killed. And crew untrained in combat could do little to help him in a fight. 

This is where Admiral Naismith would concoct an underhanded trick.

They could not take out the guards themselves. Though the _tul_ crew might know of some way to deprive that corridor of oxygen or otherwise use the ship to incapacitate the guards, Hain figured it was unlikely - systems were designed so that the crew could not do things like that. The crew could do things to disable the ship as a whole - after all, if the _ghem_ did not need _tul_ crews, there simply would not be _tul_ crews - but the _ghem_ would not want the crew to have the fine level of control which would allow them to selectively target their masters.

Perhaps, before he solved that problem, he ought to improve his credibility with the crew. After all, there was still a high risk they would turn him over to the _ghem_.

"Since you do not trust me," he said, "ask the lady herself."

The crew acted as if they had not heard him.

"Ask her! You can use the terminal to contact her in the room. If you do not know how to do it, I can instruct you."

"We are not worthy of speaking to such a lady," Smege said.

"So you will let her suffer at the hands of the _ghem_ just because you do not wish to speak with her! I know her, and I know she will be grateful for your assistance. And she will hate you if you leave her to a cruel fate." Actually, Hain did not know how Vio would react. But doing nothing meant that he was doomed - therefore he had to try to do _something_.

The crew glanced at each other nervously.

"If you would help the _ghem_ to harm the _haut_ , then I will have to do all in my power to stop you," Hain said desperately.

"I suppose," Mokren said meekly "that we could try to talk to the lady."

The other crew members became tense, but they did not try to stop Mokren from connecting to the terminal in the bedroom.

Hain could see that Mokren was connected, and that she could speak, yet she remained silent. "Vio!" he called out. "Are you all right?"

Vio did not stir, let alone respond.

"Vio! The crew want to support you, but they do not trust me. They need to know that it is your wish to escape. Please tell them, and they will do all they can for you."

There was no reaction.

Hain needed her to respond. If she could not find some way to indicate that she really did want to escape, then the crew would tell the _ghem_ about him very soon, and then it would be over for him.

What else could Hain say? It was not like they had a plan for rescuing Vio yet - _or did they?_ They could not safely approach the guards, but perhaps Vio could safely walk pass them? If so, it had to be done immediately, before they had a hint that Vio had attacked their general.

"Vio," Hain said. "We cannot bring you ourselves, so you need to come to us." He had reviewed the plans for this type of ship before their shuttle was taken. He did not know exactly where the ghem-general's private quarters were, but they must be in officer's country. "Vio, to reach us, walk out of the chamber, turn left, and keep going until you see the first lift tube on the right hand side. Then take the lift down three levels..." He continued to describe how Vio could walk to a point where Hain could meet with her.

Nothing happened, for moment. Then Vio rose from the bed, and walked out of the quarters. Mokren quietly switched the vid camera feed, which showed that the guards had not blocked her. They pretended she was not even there - which was standard etiquette.

"Who will come with me to escort the lady?" Hain asked. He needed to go because he had the bioscanner, and he did not want to hand it over. The crew just stared at him. None of them volunteered. "Then I will go escort her by myself. We will need to get her off this ship. Think of a way we can secure a shuttle. There is a friendly ship near here which can take her, but we need to make sure none of the other _ghem_ ships can intercept us. If you can communicate with the crews of the other ships - and if you cannot, I can help you - ask them to do something which will stop their ships from pursuing."

The crew continued to quietly stare at him.

"I am going to escort the lady," Hain said, and then he departed.

As soon as he left the chamber where the crew were, he started wondering whether they would take this opportunity to finally alert the _ghem_. Part of his mind raced, as he thought about what he could do if they did that. Part of his mind realized that, if they really did alert the _ghem_ , there was little he could do, and whatever he tried would most likely be futile.

Always, he watched the bioscanner. At the point where he expected Vio, he saw that there was one human-sized life form. He pointed his nerve disruptor just in case that was a _ghem_ , but when he got there, he saw that it was Vio, wearing the _minsa_. _Unless that is a_ ghem _wearing it_ he thought, but no, if it really were a _ghem_ , he would have already been attacked.

Vio walked towards him and then ... put her hand on his left shoulder. Never, ever had she touched him, and he had no idea what to make of it. He decided it was best to ignore it; it had been her choice, and it was better to understand that he did not understand than to misunderstand the meaning of the gesture.

He guided her back to where the crew were, hopefully, waiting. "Lady, the crew are ready to help you, but they are not sure whether _I_ am here to help or hurt you. I need you to assure you that _I_ am on your side, and that you need to leave this ship. If you do not convince them, they will report me very soon." _If they have not already_ he thought but did not say aloud.

His bioscanner showed there were now seven human-shaped life forms. Nervously, he had the nerve disruptor ready. Since Vio was staying so close to him, the _ghem_ might hesitate to fire, giving Hain a slight advantage.

Hain was immensely relieved to see that the two new humans were additional _tul_ crew members, not _ghem_.

Vio stood there, her hand still on his shoulder. The crew, meanwhile, deliberately did not look at her. Though only a minute or two passed, it felt like an incredibly long period of time to Hain.

And then, at last Vio pulled her hand from his shoulder. She lifted up the _minsa_ and let it fall. Then she removed her gown. Though her white tights remained on the lower part of body, everything from her hips up was now bare. The last thing she was holding was the vibra knife, and let go of this as well. It clattered on the floor.

The noise caught the attention of the crew, and the sight of her caused every single jaw to drop. It was so unbelievable that Hain did not, at that moment, believe it was real.

"I don't want to go back," Vio said. "I never want to go back. I hear you are the only ones who can get me off this ship, who can let me leave. I am now in your power."

Vio collapsed to the ground.

To say that Hain was shocked would be an understatement. His mind froze. And then the pieces - Vio lying down on the bed in the chamber, the hand on her shoulder, the months she had spent nearly constantly awake while her caloric intake was too low - finally came together. Her body had been taken to its limit.

"The _ghem_ have brought her to this state," Hain said quietly. "Will you work with the _ghem_ , and inflict more suffering? Or will you deliver her from her torment?"

The crew was still in shock.

"We are running out of time!" Hain said. "Even now, the _ghem_ may be in motion. Somebody, get some synergine! Somebody, dress her again! Yes, you will have to touch her, but that is better than letting her remain exposed!"

One of the female crew members whose name Hain did not know finally moved to lift the gown up in the air, and without looking at Vio, propped her up. Another female crew member took the gown and, again without looking at Vio, gingerly began to move it over her head.

Hain tried to think what else they need. "We need to take the other prisoner," he said. "That prisoner will ensure the lady's safety once she leaves this ship. Is there anyone in the brig?"

Mokren silently yielder her space at the terminal to Hain. Hain used the security override to access the brig records. As expected, Bel was there. Apparently, there were no guards posted there at this time.

"I need to go retrieve the prisoner," Hain said. He then remembered that Vio said that Bel would be unconscious. "We might need a float pallet - is there any here? The lady may need a float pallet too."

A crew member left. Was that crew member going to get a float pallet?

"Even with a float pallet, I cannot go alone. I will need someone to attend the float pallet so that I am free to watch out for _ghem_."

Hain then looked at Mokren, who seemed more adept at using computer systems than anyone else in the crew. " _Can_ you contact the crews of other ships?" Mokren nodded. "Do that. Ask them to stop the other ships from interfering. We must incapacitate the other Imperial vessels before we escape with the lady by shuttle."

Hain stood up, and Mokren sat back down at the terminal.

A moment later, a crew member returned with a float pallet. "With me!" Hain said.

The crew member with the float pallet obediently followed at Hain used the bioscanner and his knowledge of the ship to move towards the brig. Once he arrived at Bel's cell, he discovered that the lock was on low-security setting - it did an excellent job of keeping the prisoner inside, but clearly the _ghem_ had not anticipated anybody coming from the outside to break the prisoner out. However, if _ghem_ did not already that something was wrong, they would know soon. And then they would try to notify the ghem-general, and discover that he was - unconscious? Or dead? And they would discover that Vio was missing. Hopefully, it would take them a while for them to crack through the block on the ship's bioscanners and vid camera system, which meant that they would have to do a manual search. And hopefully the area where the _tul_ crew worked would not be the first to be searched.

As they lifted Bel onto the pallet, the crew member asked "Why not wake the prisoner?"

"Because the lady say that it would not be able to wake up for hours." The crew member looked confused. "The lady dosed it with some drug, so that it could not be interrogated." Hain then figured out why the crew member was confused, and changed the pronouns he used to refer to Bel. "I mean that the lady said the drug she gave _bim_ means that nothing can wake _bim_ up for hours."

Whereas the only sets of singular pronouns in English were 'she/her' 'he/him/his' and 'it/its', common Cetagandan had twenty-three sets of singular pronouns. For example, there was a set of pronouns which referred exclusively to _haut_ individuals, including the Emperor, another set for deities - though Iffimio people did not practice any theistic religion, some Cetagandan cultures did have theistic religions, and that was reflected in common Cetagandan - and another set of pronouns for nonhuman animals. 

Hain had, unthinkingly, referred to Bel using the pronoun he thought of as being the translation for the English pronoun 'it' - namely, the common Cetagandan pronoun for nonliving things which were smaller than a hill. The pronoun he switched to was the pronoun for polygendered humans who were neither _haut_ nor _ba_. He did not know if that was the best pronoun to use for Bel, but at least it would be less confusing. If he got out of this alive, and Bel got out of this alive, then he would ask what Bel's preferred pronoun in common Cetagandan was.

Shortly after they left the brig, the bioscanner showed that two human-sized life forms were going through the corridor they would soon cross. Hain speeded forward, and started shooting in the direction that the _ghem_ were coming. Fortunately, he was able to hit them before they pulled their own weapons. He was only able to do that _because_ their weapons had not already been drawn, which meant that they were probably looking for a _haut_ lady they did not want to fire even a stunner upon. Once the _ghem_ figured out that they were up against an armed opponent - and they would figure that out as soon as they found the body of either the first _ghem_ Hain had shot or these two _ghem_ \- they would become more dangerous. 

Miraculously, they returned to the area where they had left Vio without further incident. Vio was wearing her gown and _minsa_ again, and was standing up, though two crew members were supporting her. 

"Can the other crews incapacitate the other ships?" Hain urgently asked. 

"They already have," Mokren said. 

Hain was impressed. "That was fast. What did they do?" 

"They induced mechanical failures to cause the ships to explode," Mokren replied. "The last of the four other ships was destroyed less than a minute ago, Hain tul Larro." 


	11. Chapter 11

Hain had not given much thought to _how_ the crews could disable their ships. He had hoped that they would be able to do it on short notice, but it did not occur to him that they would do it by becoming martyrs. A sense of deep wrongness lodged inside him.

_No, I do not have time_ , he told himself. _They are already dead. We must keep going. I will sort out my feelings later._

The high alert alarm blared. It was a wonder that it took this long for the _ghem_ to officially declare a ship-wide emergency.

"We need a shuttle," Hain said. "But the _ghem_ already are at the shuttles, aren't they? To catch us, or to flee lest they think this ship will blow up too."

"They are," Mokren said. "However, I used the computer system to mark the shuttle docked at Bay #3, the nearest one to here, as being malfunctioning, and the adjacent corridor as unsafe."

"Is the shuttle malfunctioning? Is the corridor unsafe?"

"The shuttle is fine, and the corridor is only unsafe if the _ghem_ are there. Hopefully, they are detouring around the 'unsafe' corridor."

Mokren was _good_ at this kind of thing. Hain was lucky to have run in to her, and to have her help.

"We," Hain said, indicating Vio, the women supporting her, Bel, and the man accompanying Bel's float pallet, "are going to Bay #3 _now_."

Hain continued to use the portable bioscanner to check ahead. "Can any of you pilot the shuttle?" Hain thought he could probably do that himself, but just in case he could not, he wanted to know.

One of the women supporting Vio said "Yes."

There was a close call when they nearly ran into a group of _ghem_ , but thanks to the bioscanner, they were able to evade them.

They reached the shuttle bay. Just before they boarded the shuttle, Hain asked "How are you going to disable this ship, to prevent pursuit or attack?"

"We have made the weapons temporarily non-operational," one of the women said. "The _ghem_ could fix that on their own in a short time, but as soon as the shuttle is out of range, we will destroy this ship."

Hain's eyes grew large. "With your crew on board?"

"We are ready to give our lives for the lady's sake."

"No," Hain said. "No." He made a snap decision. "All of you, get on the shuttle. You, pilot it. You need to rendezvous with a ship called the _Ariel_ , led by Lieu- Captain Higgs. The lady knows his face and voice. They will help the lady."

"Yes, Hain ghem Larro," the woman who had claimed that she could pilot said.

Hain did not have the time or energy to waste on correcting the woman's use of his name.

After they had all entered the shuttle, yet Hain remained outside, Vio asked "Are you not boarding?"

"I have something to do here," Hain said. "Do not wait for me. Go!"

The shuttle's hatch closed.

***

Hain had rushed to the first terminal he could find. He did not even bother using the bioscanner any more - now that Vio and Bel was off the ship, speed was more important than avoiding the _ghem_. Frantically, he checked recent changes to see if there was anything which would blow up the ship. It did not take long to find - whoever put it in there, possibly Mokren, made no attempt to hide it. Hain used the security override he had memorized to cancel it.

That probably was not the only mechanism for destroying the ship. The crew were engineers - they understood redundancy, and most likely had a backup plan in case the _ghem_ canceled the program, just as Hain had just done.

Hain ran back to where the crew had been gathered. They were sitting in a circle, heads down and hands up. Maybe it was some sort of ritual associated with their _Kiche_ culture.

"Do not let yourselves be killed!" he yelled. "Whatever you have done to sabotage the vessel, undo it now!"

"We must make sure the lady gets away," Smege said.

"Do that, but you don't have to die for it!" Hain said. "Why didn't you all come to the shuttle?"

"You did not order it," one crew member said.

"Some of us need to stay behind to make sure that the _ghem_ will not pursue," Mokren added.

That is when the stunner blast hit Hain, and he fell to the floor.

***

When Hain woke up and opened his eyes, he saw that he was surrounded by _ghem_. The man directly in front of him had the insignia of a commodore.

The commodore gestured, and a hypospray was applied to Hain's neck.

"Count down from ten," one of the _ghem_ instructed.

"Ten, nine..." Hain said. With each second, he became more relaxed.

"Your name?" asked the man sitting next to the commodore.

"Hain tul Larro."

"Are you aware of any immediate threats to this ship?"

"I disabled the program which would have created a positive feedback loop in the Geordila forge, but the crew might have other ways..." Hain then went into a technical discussion of various means the crew could hypothetically wreck the ship. Occasionally, the interrogator asked follow-up questions, and steered Hain back to the topic at hand.

By now, it was obvious that they had used fast-penta on him. Not that there was anything he could do about it.

" _Why_ do the crew want to destroy the ship?" the interrogator asked.

This is how Hain began telling the story of his mission for the Dendarii, but the interrogator made him focus at first on just the motives of the _tul_ crew, and how the other ships had been eliminated. 

"I see," Hain said. "You want to make sure we are not going to be blasted to smithereens in the next hour before you grill me about how the lady left Sigma Ceta in the first place."

"Indeed," said the interrogator. "However, you have already given us all of the useful information you have about the crew. I have just one more question - why did you not leave with the shuttle? Why did you come back?"

"To save the ship."

"Why do you want to save the ship?"

"It's bad enough that the crews of the other ships had to die. I did not want the crew of this ship to be throwing away their lives."

"And how did you intend to save their lives."

"This ship is still here, isn't it? It still support life. They can survive. Unless you've killed them."

The faces of all of the _ghem_ remained blank.

Even under the influence of fast-penta, Hain was horrified "Don't tell me that you've slaughtered them." Then the horror passed. "No, they are still alive. This ship is running. This ship cannot run without its crew. Without them, you would be stuck."

"What did you plan to do with them?" the interrogator asked.

"To save them."

"How?"

"Stop them from blowing up the ship and then ... I didn't have a plan," Hain said. "I don't know how I would free them. And in imperial territory, they will all be executed. Of course, I should have figured that out. That is why they all wanted to die with the ships. They knew that, as soon as they turned on the _ghem_ , the _ghem_ would not permit them to live. They preferred to die by their own actions than by your actions. And as soon as you can, you are going to kill them too. I am a fool."

"Now I want to hear about Lady Vio d'Chilian," the interrogator calmly suggested. "How did she leave Sigma Ceta?"

This is how Hain began his detailed account of the mission to extract Vio d'Chilian. The interrogator was especially interested in learning about the client who hired the Dendarii and why Vio d'Chilian was going to Orient IV. However, there was not much Hain could say about them.

"Is that really all you know?"

"Yes."

"You think Lady Vio d'Chilian wishes to go to Orient IV primarily to get away from her husband?"

"Yes."

"Why do you think she killed her husband?"

"He's dead?"

"Yes. Why did she kill him?"

"Because she did not want to return to her marriage, I think."

"Do you think she might have been trying to mislead you, by making you think that she did all this because she was unhappy with her marriage, so that you would not learn her true motives?"

"It's possible, but I know of no other motive she would have had for leaving Sigma Ceta."

"Who do you _guess_ hired you to take the lady?"

"Someone who has access to very high level imperial security knowledge. Thus, either someone with a great deal of power in the empire, mostly likely on Sigma Ceta, Lambda Ceta, or Orient IV."

"Why those planets?"

"Sigma Ceta, because the intelligence we received from the client seemed tailored to moving through Sigma Ceta's security. Lambda Ceta, because they are in the best position to split from the Imperium. Orient IV, because they might benefit a great deal were Lambda Ceta to exit the Imperium, and because it is the lady's destination."

"So you think this is part a plot for Lambda Ceta to secede from the Imperium?"

"I really do not know. But something about the questions the lady asked me put that idea in my mind, and it is the idea which makes the most sense to me."

"If this is what is happening, why do you think your client asked you to make a long detour to Jackson's Whole rather than go directly from Sigma Ceta to Lambda Ceta to Orient IV?"

"Originally, we were not meant to know that the lady's destination is Orient IV. House Cordonah is also involved, and they are on Jackson's Whole. And transit via Lambda Ceta would have meant more exposure to imperial security systems, and possibly been a tip-off about the larger plot. But really, I do not know what the client's intentions are, this is all just speculation."

"What do you know about Lady Vio d'Chilian's lover?"

"She has a lover? I did not know that."

"So you know nothing about him."

"Correct."

"What do you know about Ilsum Kety?"

"Ilsum Kety? That name is familiar. Oh yes, he is the satrap governor of Sigma Ceta."

"Correct. What do you know about him."

"Not much. I know he is very young for a satrap governor."

"What has the lady said about Ilsum Kety."

"I don't know if she ever mentioned him - oh yes, she said that he was a constellation child, like herself."

"Did she ever say anything else about him?"

"No, I don't think she did."

"Were you completely unaware that Ilsum Kety _is_ the lady's lover?"

"Yes. I was completely unaware before you told me just now."

"Now that you know about their relationship, can you say _anything more_ about Ilsum Kety?"

"No, I cannot. It does seem that you think he may be our client. He would have access to enough money to pay for all that, and I suppose he would also have a very high degree of access to Sigma Ceta's security systems."

"It is a possibility that he is the Dendarii Mercenaries' client. Do you know of _any_ evidence which suggests that he is, or that he is not?"

"I can't think of anything I haven't already told you."

The interrogation then progressed to a detailed examination of Hain's background.

The commodore raised his hand. The interrogator nodded, and then applied a hypospray to Hain's neck again. He could feel the effects of the fast-penta fading, and the sense of relaxation was replaced by emptiness. He knew that the weight of what was happening would slam him soon, but for now, his feelings were still in the calm before the storm.

The commodore spoke, "I know how dangerously slanted we _ghem_ have become in favor of rank by birth instead of rank by achievement. I was born as _rek_ , not _ghem_. It was very, very difficult for me to secure admission to the Imperial Military Service Academy. After my commission, I had to be twice as effective to get half of the promotions of my _ghem_ peers. It was twenty years before I finally was titled as _ghem_. For a _tul_ to enter the academy - in this age, I think it is impossible. And that is a loss for the Imperium. Nonetheless, you chose to betray the Imperium. It was not forced upon you.

"According to your testimony, if it were not for you, we would all already be dead. I will not kill or torture anyone who risked their life to save me, nor will _anybody_ on this vessel. However, this is merely a temporary reprieve. Once we return to imperial territory, we will transfer you, and you will be made to face the consequences for your actions.

"There will be a bottle of clear liquid in your cell. It is poisonous, and drinking it will lead to swift death." The commodore looked at a pair of _ghem_ guards and snapped his fingers. "Escort the prisoner to the brig."

***

Hain was sitting in the cell. It very much like the cell from which he had fetched Bel Thorne, though he bet that the security level was set much higher for him than for Bel.

He had been so focused on surviving a little longer, of getting to the next step, and rescuing Vio and Bel that he had paid little thought to what price the crew would pay for their assistance. If they had simply disabled the ships, they would have eventually been executed or died by other means. It was understandable that they chose to cause their vessels to explode instead.

He also understood why they chose to help Vio, even at the cost of their own lives. When he had been a member of the _tul_ crew of a ship, if someone had offered him the opportunity to be a martyr for the good of the _haut_ , he would have grabbed it. As a Cetagandan, he had been taught that participating in and improving a web of biological and cultural life was what gave life meaning. Working in a giant machine, floating through lifeless space, separated from his culture, made him feel worthless. Being able to sacrifice himself for the _haut_ would have made him feel that he _did_ matter after all.

The crew on this vessel, at least, all belonged to the _Kiche_ culture, so they were less isolated that he had been. But he knew that despair was common among the _tul_ who did space duty.

Yet somehow, being with the Dendarii, many of whom decided to work in space because they _wanted_ to be in space, had made it easier for Hain to also work in space. And he had a conviction that, in spite of everything, the lives of the _tul_ crew had an intrinsic worth. They were not to be discarded unless there was no alternative.

And that conviction had caused him to doom himself without saving anybody's life. No, he had saved the lives of the _ghem_ aboard the vessel. But not the _tul_.

The bottle of clear liquid was before him. Was it a sincere gesture of mercy, or was it a test? Was it both?

Hain knew better than to expect that he could escape, but what would happen to him if he did not drink from the bottle?

If the _ghem_ continued to treat Hain like a _tul_ , they would just kill him quickly. _Tul_ were not worth torturing.

But if they had started to feel in their hearts that Hain was _ghem_ , even if they did not acknowledge it with their minds, they would put him through as much suffering as possible for his crimes.

He did want to know which approach the _ghem_ would take to his punishment once he was no longer in the commodore's custody. And that was why he did not touch the bottle.

His thoughts raced, scurrying vigorously in many directions. Eventually, his mind grew weary, and he fell asleep.

***

When Hain woke up, he saw that he was no longer in the cell. He was in a sickbay. And it was familiar.


	12. Chapter 12

"The Gary Stu awaketh!" a voice cried out. Bel's voice.

Of course. This was the sickbay of the _Ariel_. That's why it looked familiar. Hain had no idea how he had gone from a cell aboard the Cetagandan ship to here, but first he asked "What is 'the Gary Stu'?"

"Why, you of course!"

"Is this Betan humor?"

"Yep."

"Ah. So I presume that 'Gary Stu' has some sexual meaning."

"Nope. Most Betan humor isn't sexual, you know. Though Lieutenant Higgs stole your limelight and pulled you out of the fire this time."

Hain decided that he did not want to know what a 'Gary Stu' was. "What happened?"

"When I came to, and found out that you were still on the ship, I made it clear that abandoning you was not an option. So Lieutenant Higgs, with the help of a couple of Cetagandans brought over from the ship, went over and fetched you."

"Surely it was not that simple. Especially since I have no memory of this."

"Well, Higgs can do fantastic things as a pilot. No matter how the ship fired upon him, he was able to dodge, and dock."

"He was able to _dock_?"

"Funny, isn't it? It's as if someone who had partial control over the ship decided to let him dock just for the heck of it. And the air of the shuttle was filled with a potent knockout gas."

" _What?_ "

"Higgs and the others on the shuttle had air masks with full reservoirs."

"But the knockout gas ought to have been detected immediately, and triggered an automatic isolation of the docking bay."

"I know. Funny how that didn't happen. Once aboard, those Cetagandans gave Higgs some helpful tips for how he could put canisters filled with concentrated knockout gas into the main air supply. With everybody aboard except them unconscious, pulling out you and the other _tul_ crew members was straightforward. Well, you weren't so straightforward. I hear they had to use a plasma arc to get into your cell."

"The ship?"

"I consulted with our Cetagandan guests, including our lovely lady. They all were in favor of blowing up the ship. I would have been willing to leave the _ghem_ alive, but not if it meant putting any of us at risk."

Hain also most likely would have favored killing all the _ghem_ because he knew it was better not to underestimate them. Nonetheless, he felt a pang of regret that they had all died.

"But the _tul_ crew made it out?"

"All accounted for," Bel said proudly. "They are alive and well aboard this vessel. A few of them are still here in the sick bay."

Then it _had_ been worth it to stay on the Cetagandan ship and delay its destruction.

"By the way, Captain, do you know any common Cetagandan?"

"The language? I've picked up a little during my adventures. Why?"

"What pronoun would you like me to use if I talk about you in common Cetagandan?"

Bel told Hain which pronoun to use to refer to itself in common Cetagandan.

"Captain, do you know what that pronoun is used for?"

"Moons, planets, stars, nebulae, and galaxies, if I recall correctly."

"So you do know. But you're human."

"I am also a star, so yes, that is the correct pronoun for me."

"There are seven different pronouns for non-haut and non-ba humans, noting differences in gender..."

"I know. However, since I answer to 'it' in my native language, I prefer to be referred to as 'it' in all other languages. Besides, being a star is really cool." Bel smiled.

"I would never to presume to know your gender better than yourself. If you told me you were female, or polygender, or agender, or male, I would accept it-"

"But you won't accept my identity as a star?"

Hain stopped speaking.

"I'll tell you a bit about Betan herm history," Bel said. "We were made to serve as proof for our creators' notions about gender. However, it turned out that our existence contradicted their notions instead. Just by being ourselves, minding our own business, we made some of the glaring flaws in their pet theories obvious. They got mad and blamed _us_. It became a joke among the first generation of herms to refer to each other as 'it' because our creators were treating us as objects rather than as fellow beings with thoughts and feelings. This made them even more mad, because they thought of themselves as enlightened beings who would never abuse other humans, even though that was exactly what they were doing. They tried to stop the first-generation herms from referring to each other as 'it', saying that it was wrong. Then herms became even more adamant about referring to each other as 'it'. It was a way to create our own framework to describe our own lives, rather than bend to the framework forced upon us.

"Nowadays, most Betans know that 'it' is the polite pronoun to use for herms, even though many do not understand why. Leaving Beta Colony and going out into the Nexus has been a very educational experience. I keep running into these people who tell me that using the pronoun 'it' to refer to myself is degrading or something. It's become a useful tipoff, really. Someone who tells me that they know better than I do about what is or is not degrading for herms is generally someone who has their head up their ass."

"I'm sorry, Captain."

"Don't worry about it," Bel said. "You listened to the explanation, so all is forgiven. Just remember, when you are speaking in common Cetagandan, that I am a gigantic ball of flaming gas."

***

Within hours, Hain was cleared to leave the sick bay. He went straight to a meeting with the other _tul_ on the _Ariel_.

Hain had no clue how to address them. If they were _Iffimio_ , he would have some idea of how to express his deep gratitude, but _Iffimio_ customs were as alien to them as their customs were to him. He knew forms for expressing gratitude to _ghem_ and _rek_ , but they were neither _ghem_ nor _rek_.

Finally, he decided that the best course would be to treat them as galactics.

"You rescued the lady," he said. "You freed my captain. You saved my life. And you all put that above your own lives."

"It was the natural thing to do," Mokren said quietly.

"It was extraordinary," Hain said.

"It was merely our duty to the _haut_ and _ghem_."

Hain was a bit confused by that last part. How did they think that their heroic effort was in service to the _ghem_? "I will do anything for you that is within my power," he said. "Anything."

"What do we do now?" Mokren asked.

"What you want."

"I mean, how are we to serve the lady?"

"The lady no longer needs you."

Now Mokren was the one who looked confused. "Then why are we here?" she asked.

"I did not want you to die."

"But what use are we now?"

"It's not about whether or not you are useful. Your lives have intrinsic worth. You can be useful if you want, for the purposes that you want!"

"But we can never go home."

Hain sighed. "I left the empire too. It was hard. It was the hardest thing I ever did. I also wondered what the point was if I could never return." He bit his lip. "It is difficult, but one can make a life in the Nexus. And you have each other. You do not have to do this alone."

"But you can live outside the empire because you are _ghem_."

"No. I am not _ghem_. I am _tul_ , just like you all."

"But you were protecting the lady. And you used weapons."

"Things outside the empire are different. It is not ordered the way we are used to." Hain sighed again. "I know that it scary, I was scared when I ran off. I am still not entirely comfortable with the chaos, but I have come to a point where I can also appreciate the benefits."

They all nervously looked at Hain as if he were speaking an incomprehensible language.

"I know that this is a really big adjustment. I know because I have been in your position. I cannot expect you to adapt immediately. The Dendarii Mercenaries owe you all so much. I can assure you that we _will_ take care of you. Just, please, hold on. Keep your lives, for your own sakes."

They all remained tense. Hain figured he needed to give them a little breathing space.

"Please, take care of yourselves." Hain made his exit. When he was in the corridor, a Dendarii crew member informed him that Vio d'Chilian wished to speak with his privately.

***

Vio was waiting for him in a small meeting room, with cushioned seats. This made sense to Hain; it would not be appropriate for him to meet her in her sleeping quarters.

Vio stood up when Hain entered. Though she was wearing the _minsa_ , something about her posture felt stronger than before. Hain hoped that was a sign that she was recovering quickly from her physical ordeal.

"My lady, how can I assist you?" Hain asked humbly.

"Why?" she asked.

"Pardon, I do not know what you mean."

"Why did you do all of this for me?"

"It was my duty."

"You are a mercenary."

"We have a contract."

"Are you paid a percentage?"

"No. We do get a modest annual profit dividend, but I do not get a cut of any specific contract."

"Is your pay enough to make you rich?"

"No. Not at all. We are paid better than most space workers because of the hazards we face, but if I were willing to work on Jackson's Whole as a codebreaker, my salary would probably be higher."

"The money you are paid is enough to make you attempt an extremely unusual method of travel without wormholes? It is enough to create a mutiny and violently struggle against _ghem_ to take me back?"

"I was also rescuing myself."

"So you only took me off the ship to save yourself? Then why did you not join us on the shuttle?"

"It was not just about me."

"So it was about your own life _and_ making money?"

"I did not act because of money, I acted because it is my purpose. The Dendarii Mercenaries take care of me, and I serve them them."

"So you have made the Dendarii Mercenaries your empire?"

Hain paused. "That is a way to put it."

Vio lifted the front of the _minsa_ , and folded the fabric over the top of her head, revealing her face but nothing above her forehead. "Did you do all that, put yourself through such strain and hazard, because of _this_."

Hain instinctively cast his eyes down, avoiding Vio's face. "No."

"Did you see me, when I was unconscious leaving Sigma Ceta?"

"I did," he admitted. "But I did not know you were _haut_ at the time. Otherwise, I would have shown more respect."

"You did not know. Hmph. An unlikely story."

"Your beauty is beyond compare," Hain said. "But it is not why I helped you."

"Good," Vio said. "Very good. Because I am _finished_ with being beautiful."

She yanked off the _minsa_ and flung it onto a table. Then she pulled out a vibra knife - was it the same one she used to kill her husband? She swung the knife around, but because Hain was trying to avoid looking at her directly, he could not quite see what she was doing. 

He then saw her beautiful long hair pile up by her feet.

"Your hair-" he said.

"Look at me now," she said.

Hain dared to look at her again. Her face was, as always, gorgeous, but the crudely cut hair, is some spots only a centimeter or two long, was a disharmonious frame. She gave him a defiant look, and then violently put the _minsa_ back on.

"I do not want this worthless hair any more," she said. "Do what you will with it."

Abruptly, she left the room.

Hain did not understand the meaning of this. However, he could not let all that marvelous _haut_ hair remain strewn upon the floor. He gathered it up.

Two days later, Vio went to the planetary surface of Orient IV and left the custody of the Dendarii Mercenaries. Hain did not see her at all during that time.


	13. Chapter 13

After leaving Orient IV, it had taken two weeks for the _Ariel_ to rendezvous with the main Dendarii fleet. A week after that, Admiral Naismith summoned Sergeant Hain tul Larro for a meeting.

"Please sit down," Admiral Naismith said. The admiral went over to pour hot liquid into the cup next to Hain's chair. It was probably cider. The admiral then went back and relaxed into his own seat.

"Your work in the last mission was extraordinary," Admiral Naismith stated.

"Sir, I was just doing my job," Hain replied.

Admiral Naismith raised an eyebrow. "You impressed the hell out of my mother, you know. She can hardly believe that someone who had never trained with the Betan Astronomical Survey was able to get a vessel which was never designed to travel by wormhole ripple to go directly from Beta Colony to Orient IV. She wants to meet you"

"I would be honored beyond belief to meet your mother."

"I think she may even try to recruit you."

"I have no interest in joining the Betan Astronomical Survey."

"Or work for a Betan science institute?"

"No."

Admiral Naismith smiled. "Well, _I_ will be very happy to keep you. I don't like it when my mother poaches my people. However, you definitely went above and beyond the call of duty when you rescued those Cetagandan crew members."

Hain hung his head. "If you think that it was wrong to..."

"Not at all!" Admiral Naismith protested. "I completely approve of your decision to save the _tul_ crew. My regret is that the crews of the other Cetagandan ships died. And that is one of the matters I want to talk about." Admiral Naismith paused. "I've heard that the crew rescued from that Cetagandan ship have had difficulty adjusting."

"Yes," Hain replied. "Just two days ago, there was another suicide attempt."

"Another one!" Admiral Naismith exclaimed. "That would be the third one."

Hain nodded gravely. "He will survive, the medtech told me."

"I do not blame you, but I want to understand _why_ they are having such trouble. And I want to know what I can do to help you." 

"The way we are raised, being taken out of the imperial order is inconceivable. And when it becomes clear that we can never go back, it can seem too hard to adapt. As space crews, we already felt that our lives barely had enough meaning to go on, and taken out of that, it can feel that there is no meaning left at all."

"Yet you are here. Is being with the Dendarii so bad?"

"I have adapted. It was hard, but these days, I do not know how much of it was hard because it really is hard, and how much of it was hard because I was taught to _believe_ it was hard. I am trying to show the way to them, to show that it is possible to be happy and to thrive outside of the Imperium, but..."

"But?"

"They say that I am _ghem_ , not _tul_. No matter how many times I tell them about myself, they are still convinced that no _tul_ could have acted the way I acted on their ship, that no _tul_ could have integrated with a foreign mercenary troop, and that therefore I must be _ghem_. To them, the mere fact that I chose to run away from a ship and take my chances outside of the Imperium proves that I am not a real _tul_."

"I see. Yet they also left."

"Not entirely by choice. Only because they believed that the lady still had a use for them."

"You told me that the _tul_ would rise against the _ghem_ if they thought that the _ghem_ were threatening the _haut_ , but ... I was shocked that they all became martyrs like that."

"To them, it seemed like a better choice than staying alive."

"I never thought about this before, but - when the Cetagandans engage in war, they must bring _tul_ with them on their spaceships. And that the _tul_ die along with the _ghem_."

"The _tul_ are more likely to die than the _ghem_."

"Oh?"

"When a battleship needs to be evacuated, the _ghem_ are always evacuated first. The _tul_ can only get off after all of the _ghem_ are aboard their shuttles and escape pods."

"But where is the honor in that? Wouldn't the _ghem_ want the glory of fighting to the end themselves?"

"In practice, the _tul_ are often better suited to fighting to the end, since if a ship is so badly compromised that it needs to be evacuated, the weapons systems are probably no longer fully functional and the _tul_ can do more to continue the fight than the _ghem_. Furthermore, the crew might be able to keep the ship stable enough to facilitate evacuation."

"Still, I would think - that still seems backwards to me."

" _Tul_ are not as valuable as _ghem_. Saving the _ghem_ is more important than saving the _tul_."

"It seems like the other way around - the _tul_ seem damn more useful than the _ghem_." Admiral Naismith shook his head. "After learning about your troubles with the rescued _tul_ crew, I looked up some reports of the Cetagandan POWs taken in the Hegen Hub War. Some _tul_ were taken prisoner, and most of them killed themselves. The Polians tried to save them - and most of the _tul_ who did survive were in Polian custody - but the Vervani did not because they thought that their deaths were inevitable, and the Barrayarans - Barrayarans are not inclined to put an effort into saving Cetagandan lives. Is that - is that another form of martyrdom?"

"Mostly not. The Imperium pays a generous sum to the surviving family of any Cetagandan, including _tul_ , who dies in battle or in a POW camp, even if it is suicide. Space work is the most hated of all work for the _tul_ , but it does pay better wages, so some _tul_ take it up because they are desperate for money. By dying, they can both provide financially for their family and never have to go back to space work again."

"Is that why the rescued crew - you know?"

"Probably not. There is no payment to the families of traitors."

"I know you were forced into space work, and you say that some do it for the money - are there any _tul_ who actually want to work in battleships?"

"Very few."

"Yet they are more likely to die in space combat than the _ghem_."

"Yes. I have not seen the numbers, but my guess would be that far more _tul_ than _ghem_ died in the Hegen Hub War."

Admiral Naismith was quiet for a moment. "I've always thought of fighting Cetaganda as just fighting the _ghem_. And I always figured that they were warriors who chose to be warriors, so that their deaths were, in some sense, different from civilian deaths. I have never thought about any other caste of Cetagandan dying in battle, or that they may not have gone to battle by choice. It is _wrong_ for the _ghem_ to do that to the _tul_. It also - I think that, from now on, when I hear about battles with the Cetagandan Empire, I will also think about the _tul_ who die."

"I am glad that you value their lives, Admiral Naismith. I wish I could instill that sense in them, that they do have something to live for."

"Which brings us back to the question of what we can do," Admiral Naismith said. "You recommended that they all stay together, on the same ship?"

"Until they have adapted, absolutely. At least they all come from the same culture, and being with each other makes things easier. Or rather, it would be even harder for them if they were isolated from each other."

"Yet keeping them all on the _Ariel_ would be..." Admiral Naismith tried to find a diplomatic way to say it.

"They do not match the staffing needs of the _Ariel_ , and the _Ariel_ is too small to comfortably accommodate them if they are not replacing the _Ariel's_ current crew. I understand, Admiral."

"What about transferring them to the _Peregrine_? I have already consulted Captain Elena Bothari-Jesek. They have room."

"Yes, that might work."

"I would want to transfer you too, since you have more of a clue about them than anyone else."

"Of course."

"It means that you won't be working under Bel anymore."

"That is acceptable. I expect I will have no problem being under Captain Elena Bothari-Jesek's command."

"Very well, it will be done. Do you think it would help if we enlisted the rescued Cetagandan crew?"

"It might. I don't know."

"Very well, they are all welcome to enlist with the Dendarii Free Mercenaries should they so consent. If any do officially enlist, they will be placed under your command. Speaking of which, this is yours."

Admiral tossed something to Hain. Hain caught it, and examined it. It was an officer's tabs, lieutenant rank.

"This is - I'm not even a commissioned officer-"

"Hey, I promoted myself to 'Admiral' just by telling everyone I was an admiral. If I say you are a lieutenant, then you _are_ a lieutenant, as official as can be."

"But-"

"It was the _least_ I could do after that mission."

***

Hain was staring at his new officer's tabs. He still found it hard to believe that he was now a commissioned officer, let alone a _lieutenant_. He was now officially at the same rank as Lieutenant Higgs, though Higgs no doubt was going to be promoted to captain in the near future.

Trying to help the _tul_ , he had been thinking a lot over the past few weeks about his own life journey. He was atypical. A typical _tul_ would not have chosen to flee for life outside of the Imperium. A typical _tul_ would not have even tried to take the entrance exam for the Imperial Military Service Academy.

He believed that Mokren, and Smege, and the other _tul_ could in time at least make peace with life outside of the Imperium. He had to believe it. And yet it was clear that, even if they could change in time, they were in the present starkly different from him in relation to the galaxy beyond Cetaganda.

It made sense, in a way, that they would see him as _ghem_. Back when he still lived within the bounds of Cetaganda, he would have considered the ability to successfully adapt to life among galactics to be a _ghem_ trait. Yet had he not taken the entrance exam because he, deep down, suspected he had the potential of a _ghem_...

And now, he was a commissioned officer in a military organization. It was not the Imperial military, but he was now a military officer nonetheless.

Admiral Naismith said that he had become an admiral by telling everyone he was an admiral. Yet it had not been pure deception, for he had managed to back up his claims, and become an admiral in fact. If Admiral Naismith had been able to make himself an admiral, could Hain make himself into a _ghem_?

***

"Welcome aboard the Peregrine," said Captain Bothari-Jesek to the assembled _tul_. "All of you will live aboard, both those of you who have enlisted with us and those of you who have not. You will be free to associate with each other when you are not on duty. All of you - both enlisted and those who are not enlisted - will answer to Lieutenant Hain ... _ghem_ Larro."

The _tul_ did not blink at all at hearing Hain being referred to as 'ghem'.

"Thank you, Captain Bothari-Jesek," Hain said. "Those of you have enlisted will go through the standard Dendarii training regimen. I myself went through it when I first enlisted. All of you will continue to have lessons about how to integrate in galactic society." Hain himself had taught a few of those lessons, but fortunately, the Dendarii was a very diverse organization, and thus they had trainers who were used to orienting recruits from very different cultures. What they lacked in expertise on Cetagandan cultures - and even Hain hardly knew anything specifically about Kiche culture - they made up with their professional experience.

Hain had started by simply letting the _tul_ call him _ghem_ without correcting them. However, the previous day, he confided in Elena that he wished to change his name from _tul Larro_ to _ghem Larro_. Elena accepted it immediately. Soon, Hain would have his name changed in his official Dendarii records.

It felt strange for his name to change, and yet it felt affirming. Even though this was by no means the official or proper way to enter the _ghem_ caste, it felt right that Hain did this for himself. Timoq and Sassoom agreed - as soon as they found out that Hain was changing his name, they visited him in person and performed the full ceremony for welcoming a new member of the _ghem_ caste.

Hain still could not quite put his finger on why he put himself on the path towards becoming _ghem_ , as unlikely and strange it had been, or why he wanted this. But perhaps the reasons did not matter. Perhaps it was enough that it felt right.

For now, Hain was not wearing _ghem_ makeup on his face. Timoq offered to teach him how to do it. Hain probably would take up that offer eventually, but that part of being _ghem_ did not seem especially important to him.

Hopefully, by openly presenting himself as _ghem_ , he could help the _tul_ as well. Part of him feared that encouraging them to stay in the Cetagandan mindset would make it harder for them to adapt, but perhaps the symbolic value of them being under the command of a _ghem_ would ease their way into the Dendarii.

***

Three weeks after his promotion to lieutenant, Admiral Naismith called Hain again, saying that there was a visitor who wished to see him.

When Hain entered the chamber, he saw Admiral Naismith, and a person wearing a brilliant crimson _minsa_. Though it was not the same _minsa_ she had worn before, Hain had no doubt that this was Vio d'Chilian.


	14. Chapter 14

"And here is Lieutenant Hain ghem Larro," said Admiral Naismith. "He's changed his name."

Vio remained seated, without moving.

Admiral Naismith coughed. "Pardon me, lady, but how ought I to address you?"

"'Lady' will do."

"Thank you, lady. Lieutenant ghem Larro, I had just been offering my condolences on the loss of your Celestial Lady."

Hain bowed his head. Though he had learned much about _ghem_ etiquette in the past few weeks, he still was uncertain about the proper response to a reference to the recent death of Lisbet Degtiar.

"I might be going to the funeral if I were still - ahem! In any case, as things are, I am not going to the Celestial Lady's funeral."

"Of course not," Vio said, as if there were no conceivable reason why Admiral Naismith would be at the funeral of the Celestial Lady.

"I still do not know who the client really was for that mission, and it is driving me crazy. Lady, could you possibly tell us who it was?"

"Ilsum Kety, haut governor of Sigma Ceta. _Former_ haut governor," she corrected herself.

"I had this funny feeling that someone really high up in the Cetagandan system was behind it. _Former_ governor, you say? I hope that's not _our_ fault." 

"More my fault than yours. I probably could have evaded ghem-Colonel Dag Benin -" 

"Who?" 

"An Imperial Security officer." 

"But - ah, a _Cetagandan_ Imperial Security officer." 

"At the very least, he could not use fast-penta on me. But I decided to talk to him anyway. Truthfully." 

"Why _did_ you talk to him?" 

"In exchange for my cooperation, I will be able to live in peace in exile. As long as I do not return to the Imperium, the Imperium will leave me alone." 

The corner of Admiral Naismith's mouth went up. "I suppose you were not happy in the Imperium after all, eh?" 

Vio did not respond. 

"What was the former governor trying to do anyway?" 

"Split Sigma Ceta and Lambda Ceta to form a separate empire." 

Though Hain was not entirely surprised, he was still impressed by the audacity. 

Admiral Naismith whistled. "And how exactly was he planning to do that?" 

"I do not know all of the details." 

"Then how at least, did you fit in. Did _we_ fit in?" 

"His plan was to use this incident as a pretext to remove my husband and replace him with a ghem general who would assist him in his plans on Sigma Ceta. Meanwhile, I was to instruct certain parties on Orient IV on how to use various haut drugs which had never been exported from the Imperium before. In exchange, Orient IV was to become our ally." 

"Why you?" 

"He did not trust any other _haut_ women. And my disappearance was to be useful." 

"I see. Does Moira ghem Estif also happen to know how to use these drugs?" 

"She left the Imperium long ago. Her knowledge is out of date." 

"Hmmmm. Well, now that you're out, what do you plan to do, lady?" 

"I was hoping to discuss that with you, Admiral Naismith." 

Now Admiral Naismith's eyebrows went up. "Oh." 

"I would like to live among the Dendarii Free Mercenaries. I request comfortable living quarters, adequate meals, health care should I need it, and a stipend of two thousands Betan dollars per month on top of that, for the next five years." 

"We pay our people much better than that," Admiral Naismith said. 

"I do not wish to _labor_ for you, Admiral Naismith. I am offering something else in exchange." 

"What?" 

Vio's head turned slightly towards Hain, and she nodded. "Hain _ghem_ Larro told me that you have a great interest in Komarran and Barrayaran military affairs." 

"Nowadays, Komarran military affairs _are_ Barrayaran military affairs, lady." 

"I have documents describing Cetaganda's activities during the Barrayaran invasion of Komarr." 

"It is obvious to _anybody_ who actually thinks about the Komarr Conquest that Cetaganda's major contribution was its _inactivity_ \- it's refusal to honor its longstanding yet tacit pact to defend Komarr." 

"That is so Admiral Naismith. You have no doubt already deduced that Cetaganda's _inactivity_ was completely intentional. However, Cetaganda did have an interest in the _particulars_ of how the invasion of Komarr happened, and thus took some _covert_ actions." 

"What covert actions? Did they covertly assist Komarr ... or Barrayar?" 

"If you accept my terms, then you will receive the documents that can answer your questions." 

"As far as classified document troves go, you are not asking for much." 

"Cetaganda's covert activities did not change the outcome of the invasion, Admiral Naismith. I do not wish to overstate the historical importance of these documents by charging too high a price." 

Hain could tell, just by looking at Admiral Naismith's face, that he was going to bite. This deal was not the kind of deal that Admiral Naismith would turn down. 

"I accept your offer!" Admiral Naismith said. 

Vio pulled out from under her _minsa_ a little data disc, and handed it over to Admiral Naismith. He took it gingerly. 

"Welcome to the Dendarii Free Mercenaries, lady," said Admiral Naismith. He looked at Hain, and then at Vio again. "Would you two like some private time now?" 

It took a second for Hain to catch onto what Admiral Naismith was implying. He wanted to protest _Admiral, our relationship is not like that!_ However, any such protest would embarrass Vio further. 

"Yes I have things to say privately to Hain ghem Larro," said Vio. 

"Well, I can fix up a private room for you two right now," Admiral Naismith said. 

Hain wished that Admiral Naismith would stop grinning like that. 

***

Admiral Naismith led them to a little room with a chair, a couch - and a bed. Of course he did.

Hain decided he was going to completely ignore the bed unless Vio commented upon it.

Admiral Naismith went out, still grinning.

Vio did not remark upon the bed. She sat down on the couch.

This was going to be tricky. It was only after deciding to become a _ghem_ that Hain realized just how many servile habits he had. A lifetime in a low caste had trained him to constantly humble himself before others. He could not erase all that in a few weeks, and there were times when _ghem_ also had to demonstrate humility and obedience. He knew he ought not to display quite the same attitude towards Vio as he had before, but he did not know what attitude _was_ appropriate now.

Hain sat down in the chair. Patiently, he waited for Vio to speak.

"So you are _ghem_ now," she said.

Hain nodded.

"I think that is appropriate," she said. "After meeting other _tul_ , it seemed to me that you were as much like a _ghem_ as a _tul_."

Yes, Hain had been seeing that himself as he was working with the _tul_ now among the Dendarii. He understood why they behaved in such a subservient manner, and he did nothing to discourage that, since the adjustments they were making were already difficult enough. However, he had been telling them in detail about his own transition from _tul_ to _ghem_ , hoping that it might help them in their own transition to life outside the Imperium.

"The _tul_ crew who came from that ship are doing better now than they were a couple weeks ago," he said. "Mokren in particular now seems to be well on her way to integrating with the Dendarii Free Mercenaries."

"They are still here?" Vio asked.

"Of course. They saved us, and they have nowhere else to go."

Vio was silent for a moment. "I did not understand why you stayed behind when the shuttle left the ship. It bothered me. I have been thinking about it a lot."

Hain cared about Vio, but he also cared about the _tul_ crew, and he knew he did not want to hear Vio claim that they were not worth saving, nor did he want to defend the value of their lives. He decided it was best to change the topic. "Do you feel sorry about haut governor Ilsum Kety?" he asked.

"That is something else I think a lot about," she confessed. "I am not sure about him either. Did he really love me, or was I just a useful tool for his plots? No matter what, I will always be grateful to him, regardless of his motives. I certain that, were it not for him, I would still be trapped in my miserable marriage."

"The interrogator on the ship - he claimed that ... you and the governor..."

"That we were lovers? Yes. Our relationship was common knowledge among the highest ranking _ghem_ of Sigma Ceta."

"Including your late husband?"

"My late husband _required_ me to become Ilsum's lover. Ever since he became the ghem-general of Sigma Ceta, every single haut governor has asked me for sex, and my husband insisted that I accept all of their advances. He claimed that it was an effective way to maintain good relations between himself and the haut governor.

"The other haut governors just saw me as a great beauty - one even told me over and over again that I was the most gorgeous person he had ever seen. Ilsum was the first who tried to engage me in another way. He said that it was such a waste that I was not applying my mind and keeping up with the latest genetic and biological advances."

"But were you not cast out of the _haut_?"

"In some senses I was, and in others I was not. Some _haut_ who have married into the _ghem_ continue to be amateur genetic engineers, and they are occasionally given permission to design a _ba_ servitor for their constellation of origin. I had not bothered, since I figured that since my brains were not enough to prevent my marriage, it was no use. But Ilsum persuaded me otherwise. I took up studies again, and found I actually was much better at it than I remembered. I think now that, if I really had been given a chance, and not just treated as an extraordinary doll, I could have become a planetary consort.

"Now I wonder if he did that just because he saw my vulnerability as a lever he could use to make a _haut_ woman loyal to him. If so, he failed. I ultimately betrayed him. Nonetheless, even if it was merely part of his ambitious plans, he clearly thought I _could_ be something more. That he saw that in me is priceless."

"If I may ask - why did you betray him?"

"Given a choice between keeping things the way they were, and going with Ilsum's plotting, I would have chosen Ilsum's plotting, no question about that. Even if he planned to kill the Celestial Lord himself, I would have followed him, if that were the only way to get out of my marriage alive."

Hain knew better than to bring up the fact that Vio had in fact killed her own husband.

"But much as I tried to deny it, I had this feeling that the future Ilsum promised me would not make me happy either. I did not look forward to having to constantly watch my back for conspiracies and usurpers for the rest of my life. During the journey, with you, I began to see that, maybe, I could simply get away from it all.

"I did betray Ilsum. But he was planning to betray the Imperium. I was going to be a betrayer one way or another, no matter what I did."

Hain gave Vio a moment to continue, but she did not. Then he asked "Why do you wish to spend the next five years with the Dendarii?"

"Because you are with the Dendarii."

This astonished Hain. "Because of _me_?"

"Is there anything strange about a _ghem_ woman such as myself wishing to accompany a _ghem_ man like you?"

Hain could not believe his ears. "What exactly do you mean by 'accompany'?"

"I do not mean sex, to be clear," Vio said. "If you have any such hopes, it would be best for you to kill them now."

"I never dreamed of it," Hain said. While he was painfully aware that Vio was an amazingly attractive woman, he knew all along that she was so far out of his league that it had never even been conceivable to him that they could ever have a sexual relationship. And it helped a lot that his sexual tastes ran towards body types which were plumper than Vio's. "Why?" he asked.

"What did you do with my hair?"

"I sealed it in a proper container - I am no expert at preserving organic material, but it ought to stay in good condition for a long time."

"Where did you put my hair?"

"I keep it in my private quarters - to protect it." Hain almost launched into a monologue about how he knew he was not worthy of keeping her hair, but he restrained himself. He was _ghem_ now, not _tul_. 

"You did not sell it?"

"Of course not!"

"Did you think about selling it?

"No." He honestly had not thought about it. How would one sell a _haut_ woman's hair? It was only now, that she mentioned the idea, that he realized that such hair might be worth a lot of money. "Do you want it back, so you can sell it? Do you want to use it to pay off Admiral Naismith - ah, but it is too late, you already gave him the documents."

"It is alright, giving Admiral Naismith the documents was not a problem. Or at least, it is not _my_ problem. I do not know much about Admiral Naismith, but based on what little I have learned about him, it probably will be a problem for somebody."

"I am afraid you are right about that."

"I would like you to keep my hair."

"It is a great honor, lady."

"Now do you understand why I want your company?"

"Not at all."

"You do not care for material gain. I am amazed that someone like you is a mercenary."

"Most mercenaries are pursuing something other than material gain. It is far from the easiest way to make money."

"That does make sense." Vio paused before she continued. "It took me a while to figure it out, but you risked yourself to save that crew because saw value in them just being themselves. They are not pretty, you had no use for them, yet you were willing to sacrifice yourself for their well-being anyway."

"They also sacrificed themselves for you," Hain said.

Vio was quiet for a moment. "I have not considered that," she admitted. "I just assumed it was natural for them to do that for their superiors. That is a point. I will ponder this.

"What I am trying to say is that, thinking about you and the crew is what made me realize that you have the same regard for me. I finally understood that you did not go to such lengths to help me because of how I look, or to further some plan or yours, or even because of your orders. Yes, you were ordered to help me, and I do not question your loyalty to the Dendarii, but I do not think that was what drove you. You were driven to help me, not as a beauty, but as a person. Because you believe that people, even people you do not know, deserve to live well."

Hain did not answer that one. He did not want to give an immodest answer, nor did he want to put on false modesty.

"Maybe this is a foolish decision on my part. But I feel, I want to be around someone who will care for me just because I am a person. Someone who is not attached to my appearance, or my utility. I do not know what I want to do with you. Just knowing that you are around, near me, may be enough. Or it may not."

"We can be near each other," Hain said. "And if you ever want more from me, feel free to ask."

"I know."

They sat in silence. Neither felt a need for more words. For the moment, being together was enough.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all of you who read to the end! Thanks to kateydidnt for the prompt, I hope that this fic satisfied you!
> 
> I might write a short fic in which Miles reacts to those classified Cetagandan documents.
> 
> The next longer fic I would like to write at this point is a retelling of _Cetaganda_ which does not have Miles, Vio, or Ilsum Kety, and in which Donna Vorrutyer is one of the diplomatic envoys to Lisbet's funeral, but I don't know if I will ever get that fic started.


End file.
